Newly opened Radial looking to hire 649 for holiday season

A new Easton-area logistics center is looking to hire 649 seasonal workers to meet the increasing demands of the holiday shopping season.

Radial, which serves as a third party logistics supplier for such national retailers as Dick’s Sporting Goods and PetSmart, opened in July at 4200 E. Braden Blvd. in the Forks Township Industrial Park.

The company just finished its first initial hiring period for the facility and now has 180 full-time employees.

So Michael Cox, director of fulfillment at Radial, knows the company has a big challenge ahead of it as it brings more than three and a half times that number of employees in for the November and December months.

Cox said one of the biggest challenges Radial has in recruiting new staff is the competition in the region for good workers.

“Every major manufacturer has a footprint in the Lehigh Valley. People can work anywhere,” he said.

To differentiate itself, and hopefully attract top talent, Cox said Radial is trying to market itself as a place where it can be fun to work.

He said Radial provides its employees with fun activities during the hectic holiday season, with regular raffles, awards and recognition, ice cream socials and popcorn Friday’s.

He said such activities boost morale and lead current employees to recommend the job to others.

“We tell them ‘you can enjoy your job,’” he said.

But he also notes that the seasonal jobs can also be an opportunity for people looking for a full-time career to get a foot in the door, and that Radial offers development opportunities for people that are looking to come aboard and move up.

“Our intent is to always engage our folks. We use cross-training and development of a long-term workforce to help Radial’s customers,” he said.

Cox noted that the company is already in talks with new customers that would necessitate adding many more workers to the permanent, full-time rolls, so there should be plenty of opportunities for those who seek them.

Radial is now accepting applications for entry-level warehouse positions, including fulfillment associates and pickers and packers. Workers will be responsible processing online orders, including picking, sorting, packing, and shipping both single and multi-unit orders.

The 500,000-square-foot fulfillment center in Forks Township is one of about 20 such centers that Radial has across the country.