Retailers Begin to Hire Seasonal Workers
Retail stores are starting to hire seasonal workers for the holiday shopping rush.
Retailers want to make sure they are fully staffed, especially during Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year. That might be a month away, but they aren’t wasting any time.
In 2012, around 750,000 seasonal workers were hired across the U.S..
“They’re anticipating this year to be still quite high but at around 700,000,” said Ian Moats, of Express Employment Professionals.
The reason for the slight decline is online shopping, said Moats.
“Sometimes they have really good sales so it’s just cheaper to buy online, and it’s just quicker, too, than having to drive somewhere and find parking, especially here,” said shopper Jennifer Garcia.
That might be the case, but the companies that deliver the goods, like FedEx and UPS, are hiring more workers because of that.
But brick-and-mortar stores are still expecting the rush of people coming through their doors.
Kmart in Goleta will hire up to 80 people this season.
“Sales have been fabulous, so we see that as wanting to be prepared so we have enough employees to handle all that,” said Sheila Holmes, the human resources lead at the store.
The hope for some applicants is to be kept on after the holidays.
“Some of these seasonal jobs are transitioned into full-time jobs, so every job seeker should see this an an opportunity to take full advantage of it,” said Moats.
At Kmart in Goleta, once a person is hired, they can stay for as long as they would like.
“Lots of opportunities, and lots of opportunities for advancement, too. We have several employees that are now looking to go into management positions,” said Holmes.
That’s good news for job seekers and also shoppers who are looking for convenient places to buy their holiday gifts with plenty of staff to help them out.
Some retailers hiring for seasonal jobs:
Kmart & Sears
http://www.searsholdings.com/careers/
Cost Plus World Market
http://www.worldmarketcorp.com/careers/apply-online/store-positions
Macy’s
http://www.macysjobs.com/Apply
Nordstrom
http://about.nordstrom.com/careers/
Target
https://corporate.target.com/Careers
