As the nation gears up for its busiest time of the year, new analysis from CV-Library, one of the UK’s largest job boards, reveals that the logistics & distribution sector is the second-largest source of seasonal jobs, proving Santa isn’t the only one delivering precious goods over the festive period.
After analysing more than 2.8 million job postings between September and December (2022-2024), CV-Library found that one in five seasonal roles came from logistics & distribution, with workers paid an average of £15 an hour (the 10th highest-paid sector).
For many, the demand in roles and lucrative pay emphasises that sorting belts, scanners and delivery routes are just as crucial as Santa’s reindeer.
Top 10 most in-demand logistics & distribution seasonal roles
|
Ranks |
Job Title |
Average Hourly Wage |
|
1 |
Warehouse Operatives |
£13 |
|
2 |
Delivery Drivers |
£14 |
|
3 |
Postal Delivery Driver |
£17 |
|
4 |
Mail Sorters |
£15 |
|
5 |
Van Driver |
£15 |
|
6 |
Picker/Packers |
£12 |
|
7 |
Postal Workers |
£16 |
|
8 |
HGV Class 1 Driver |
£21 |
|
9 |
Home Delivery Driver |
£15 |
|
10 |
Royal Mail Postal Driver |
£17 |
Warehouse Operatives are the most common festive roles, making up 23% of all seasonal logistics & distribution jobs, followed closely by Delivery Drivers (22%), Postal Delivery Drivers (12%), Mail Sorters (11%) and finally Van Drivers at 7%.
The boom in festive courier work reflects Brits’ changing shopping habits, placing logistics & distribution workers firmly at the heart of Christmas operations.
Top-paying seasonal roles in logistics & distribution
While the most in-demand roles tend to be mid to lower-earning, the highest-paid jobs require more experience or specialist licences, with an emphasis on advanced driving or technical skills:
- Class 1 Drivers - £29 an hour.
- HGV Drivers - £28 an hour.
- Cream Packaging Operative - £25 an hour.
- HGV 1 Driver - £24 an hour.
- Class 1 Shunter - £22 an hour.
Methodology
CV-Library's PR team worked with in-house data analysts to examine the prevalence of seasonal roles across the UK labour market. Analysts reviewed more than 2.8 million job postings between September and December from the past three years (2022-2024), filtering for temporary, part-time or contract roles containing keywords such as “Christmas”, “seasonal” and “festive”. Around 3,000 relevant roles were extracted and assessed, including job title prevalence, average estimated hourly pay, sector trends, location demand and year-on-year changes.
About CV-Library
CV-Library is the UK’s largest independent job site, matching candidates with jobs from the UK’s largest employers. It attracts over 4.3 million unique job seekers every month with a database of more than 21 million CVs. For more information, please visit https://www.cv-library.co.uk/.
