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The press releases of holidays past are haunting my inbox once again. After bumping up their headcounts at the height of the pandemic, big box retailers are looking for extra temporary help for stocking szn.
- Target is hiring around 130,000 seasonal workers, roughly the same as in previous years.
- Kohl’s will recruit an undisclosed number of new employees. Last year, it added 90,000.
- Walmart will hire 20,000+ temporary employees, in addition to the 500,000 who joined its ranks this summer.
The 2020 twist: Temporary hires will be deployed to distribution centers or curbside pickup ops at stores. You’ve seen the hockey stick charts: All three retailers are in the middle of an e-comm surge, and there’s no point spending flexible workforce resources on extra store Santas.
It’s not just retailers. FedEx and UPS are looking for more saints in cargo shorts. FedEx will hire 70,000 seasonal delivery workers, a 27% jump from last year; UPS will bring on 100,000+ workers. They’re anticipating increased residential deliveries.
Preparations on preparations
Deloitte estimates overall holiday sales will grow by 1.5% at most this holiday season, despite a projected 25%–35% increase in e-commerce sales.
So hiring is one piece of retail’s holiday puzzle. Shoppers put two experiences at the top of their wish lists that brands need to prepare for:
- BOPIS: Hate the acronym, love the results. Half of respondents in a recent BlackFriday.com and SurveyGizmo poll said they’ll use curbside or contactless pickup this holiday season.
- Early promotions: 50% of respondents said they’re already buying gifts, in a survey released by Affirm this week.
While we’re here: Amazon will reportedly hold Prime Day on October 13 and 14 this year. We’ll have more insights into retailers’ holiday discount plans on Monday. 😉