For the second year in a row, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will not add temporary employees for the holiday shopping season.
Instead, Walmart, No. 3 in the Internet Retailer 2017 Top 500, will rely on its existing employees to work additional hours to meet the holiday shopping season demand surge. This contrasts with how Walmart has done business in the past. Internet Retailer data shows that Walmart hired 60,000 seasonal employees in 2014 and 2015, and 55,000 in 2013.
The retailer opted not to hire additional staff this year based on employee and customer feedback from last year, says Judith McKenna, Walmart’s chief operating officer.
“This is what working in retail is all about, and we know our associates have the passion to do even more this year,” she says. “We’ve increased our focus on service through new training, tools and technology.”
Meanwhile, shipping carrier UPS Inc. today said it will hire 95,000 seasonal employees to handle the holiday rush, same as it did last year. Those positions include delivery drivers, package handlers and driver assistants. UPS says nearly 35% of its seasonal employees have gone on to land full-time jobs within the company.
UPS and Walmart are just the latest companies to announce holiday hiring plans. Here’s a look at the others:
- Macy’s (No. 6) this week announced plans to hire 80,000 seasonal employees, including 18,000 to work in its fulfillment centers. That’s down from 83,000 total seasonal employees overall last year. The 18,000 seasonal fulfillment center employees represents a 20% jump from 15,000 last year.
- The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (No. 171) is hiring 10,000 seasonal employees for its store locations, down 23.1% from 13,000 last year, and 500 to work in its e-commerce fulfillment center and other distribution centers, same as last year.
- Target (No. 20) will hire 104,500 seasonal employees, up 34.8% from 77,500 last year. 4,500 of those seasonal employees will work in its distribution centers, down 40% from 7,500, potentially reflecting a shift in focus to fulfilling online orders from store locations rather than distribution centers.
- E-commerce vendor Radial last week said it will hire 27,000 seasonal employees, a 35% increase from the 20,000 it hired in 2016. Radial says it helped process 306 million online orders last year and more than $1.7 billion in sales.