Delivery Driver 'Annual Salary 200 Million Won' Agreement Reached... "I Want to Do It Too" US Job Searches Surge

Sharp Increase in Corporate Net Profit After COVID-19
Job Search Rises 50% Following Raise Announcement

UPS, the largest delivery company in the United States, has reached an agreement on salary negotiations with its in-house labor union. As a result, the annual salary of UPS delivery drivers is expected to surpass 200 million KRW.

The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 22nd (local time) that the wage increase plan agreed upon by UPS management and the union was approved by 80% of union members in a vote. Now, both parties will finalize the wage plan after final adjustments on some remaining issues.

Approximately 300,000 UPS employees in the U.S. are affected by this wage increase plan. According to the agreement, the company will raise the hourly wage of employees by at least $7.50, and the minimum wage for part-time workers will increase from $17 to $21 per hour.

US UPS delivery vehicle [Photo by AP Yonhap News]

The average salary for full-time workers (including benefits) will increase from $145,000 (about 190 million KRW) to $170,000 (about 225 million KRW) per year. This means the annual salary will surpass 200 million KRW.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, UPS experienced a nationwide surge in demand. Consequently, net profits soared to $11 billion (about 14 trillion KRW) last year, a 70% increase compared to 2019 before the pandemic.

Following this, the union demanded a wage increase from management. However, disagreements arose over the wages of part-time employees, who make up a significant portion of UPS staff, prolonging negotiations. Nevertheless, considering the current shortage of delivery drivers, the company reportedly agreed to most of the union’s demands.

After the wage increase plan was finalized, the number of people seeking jobs at UPS reportedly surged significantly. The U.S. financial media outlet Bloomberg cited data from the job platform Indeed, reporting that "online searches for delivery driver jobs increased by 50% after the announcement of the UPS wage negotiations."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.