Macy’s Inc. is hiring about the same number of seasonal employees—83,000—for the 2016 holiday season as it did for the 2015 season, but more of them will be assigned to e-commerce-specific roles this year.
The department store chain, No. 6 in the Internet Retailer 2016 Top 500 Guide, said Tuesday that about 15,000 of the 83,000 seasonal positions will work in “direct-to-consumer fulfillment facilities that support sales generated by the company’s omnichannel business strategy.” The 15,000 e-commerce-related hires represent an increase of 3,000 positions, or 25%, compared with the 2015 holiday season.
Workers will be hired for Macy’s e-commerce fulfillment centers that include large facilities in Goodyear, Ariz.; Cheshire, Conn.; Tulsa, Okla.; Portland, Tenn.; and Martinsburg, W.Va., and in product-specific fulfillment centers in Sacramento, Calif.; Stone Mountain, Ga.; Secaucus, N.J.; and Joppa, Md.
Macy’s, which employs about 157,900 year-round, also said about 1,000 seasonal workers will interact with Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s customers via email, online chat and telephone at customer service centers in Mason, Ohio; Clearwater, Fla.; and Tempe, Ariz.
Macy’s said in August, during the earnings call for its fiscal second quarter ended July 30, that online sales growth was in double digits but did not specify how much. Overall sales dropped 3.9% year over year in Q2 and 5.7% through the first six months of 2016. The retailer said it will close 100 stores within the next year, or 13.7% of its current store base, to cut costs.
“However our customers connect with us—in stores, online and mobile, or over the phone—Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s shoppers have come to appreciate the higher level of our staffing and service throughout the Christmas and holiday season,” CEO Terry Lundgren said. “These seasonal positions fill an important niche in the American employment spectrum.”
Other retailers also recently announced holiday hiring plans:
- Kohl’s Corp. (No. 19 in the Top 500) will add 69,000 seasonal workers.
- Target Corp. (No. 22) will hire 70,000, plus 7,500 for its e-commerce distribution and fulfillment centers.
- Toys R Us Inc. (No. 35) did not say how many temporary workers it will hire but the retailer is placing greater emphasis on its e-commerce fulfillment centers.
United Parcel Service Inc. also last week said it plans to hire about 95,000 seasonal workers, close to the 93,000 it hired in 2015.
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