China's delivery workers earn their bonuses on Singles' Day
Nationwide spending spree pushes couriers to the limit, but they can double their wages
Yesterday's national day of online shopping therapy for single people may have healed some lonely hearts, but for the mainland's delivery workers it meant a lot of pressure to get the packages out on time, as well as a handsome bonus.
"I make about 3,000 yuan [HK$3,790] a month on average, but this month I think it's going to be at least double that," said Li Fenglin , a 27-year-old worker with Yunda Express, one of the mainland's biggest courier firms, in Beijing.
But the extra pay comes at a price. Li estimated he would have to handle about 100 items a day this week - twice the usual number. "We're under a lot of pressure to deliver the packages on time. Hours are very long this week, but I think since it's Singles' Day, I don't mind serving such customers," he said.
A worker with the courier firm Shentong Express said the industry had to rely on temporary workers to keep up with demand.
The State Post Bureau said the week would be the busiest of the year for logistics companies. Last year some failed to meet their delivery deadlines.
More than 323 million packages would be handled between yesterday and Saturday, with nearly a fifth processed on the first day - double last year's busiest day, the bureau estimated.