UPS had about 454,000 permanent employees as of December 31, 2017. (Reuters)

United Parcel Service Inc would hire about 100,000 temporary employees for the crucial holiday season beginning in November, the US package delivery company said on Monday.

The company’s seasonal hiring is about 5.3 per cent more than last year, when it added about 95,000 temporary positions.

Peak season begins on Black Friday, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday in November, and runs through early January when there is a large wave of returns.

Both UPS and smaller rival FedEx Corp hire seasonal workers every year to handle huge volumes of deliveries during the season as shoppers spend more online, buoyed by a strong economy and labor market.

Last week, FedEx said it would hire about 55,000 workers for the season, up about 10 per cent compared with a year earlier.

UPS had about 454,000 permanent employees as of December 31, 2017, while FedEx employed about 166,000 people as of May 31.