Ingram Micro of Irvine is looking for more than 6,700 seasonal and regular workers across the globe amid growing demand for online shipping during the holiday season, and the ongoing e-commerce boom during the pandemic.
Ingram’s Commerce & Lifecycle Services division, a supply chain management unit of the wholesale tech distributor, said it plans to hire more than 4,000 seasonal and regular employees before the end of December, the largest source of new jobs.
The new hires for Commerce & Lifecycle will help support the growing demands of third-party logistics providers’ e-commerce operations, as well as handling restocking and e-commerce returns services, the company said Oct. 27.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, we had a huge surge in online orders—everybody did,” said Geoffrey Friederich, Ingram Micro’s vice president of human resources. “Since we fulfill a lot of orders for customers that we have around the globe, and certainly in the U.S., we saw a huge spike in demand as well. We’ve continued to see that demand—it will continue through the end of year.”
“We also fulfill orders for non-technology customers, Friederich said, noting for example it provides services for fashion-focused companies and general consumer goods.
The majority of the 4,000-plus jobs are for people “who actually help put these orders together” or what they call in the trade “pick, pack and ship.” That refers to the process of grabbing the right item, choosing the right box and packing materials and then shipping it off to the customer
Friederich said the company also has about open 2,000 positions in Europe, primarily warehouse jobs, and about 700 other job openings elsewhere—including Orange County.
“We certainly have openings around the globe.”
World’s Largest
Ingram Micro is the world’s largest wholesale technology distributor and the biggest OC company by revenue, with $47.2 billion in sales in 2019.
Ingram Micro provides warehousing and order fulfillment services to major consumer brands in the U.S. and has a large customer portfolio that includes retailers in industries spanning consumer goods, home fitness, consumer electronics and apparel, among others.
The parent company reported third-quarter net sales of $12.1 billion; the Commerce and Lifecycle unit is not broken out separately.
Friederich emphasized the benefits for the Commerce & Lifecycle newcomers, including 401(k) plans, sick leave and vacation time. The company has raised hourly wages for warehouse workers, and Friederich says that now comes to an $18 an hour entry-level wage in Mira Loma.
“We’re back-end support and fulfillment for a lot of online shopping programs for some of the major companies out there,” said spokesman Damon Wright. He said the company has seen that part of the business has taken off and “has grown exponentially.”
The sites where jobs are posted for the Commerce & Lifecycle division include Dallas-Fort Worth, Las Vegas, Millington in Tennessee and Mira Loma in Riverside County.
“The increased reliance on online shopping has presented amazing opportunities in ecommerce logistics for the companies delivering these services as well as for individuals looking for seasonal work or to begin careers in the logistics industry,” according to Friederich.
