Business & Tech

Survey: Most Retailers Not Offering Holiday Season Jobs

Most retailers surveyed said they planned to offer more overtime instead of hiring additional workers this holiday season.

Things are looking up for retailers as solid sales in recent months could mean that shoppers are ready to spend more this holiday season, according to an L.A. Times business report.

Despite the expected sales growth, 67 percent of retailers surveyed by the Hay Group planned to keep their seasonal hiring at the same levels as last year, and 24 percent plan to hire even fewer workers. , along with Designer Shoe Warehouse (DSW) are two companies that participated in the survey. DSW reported exceptional sales growth this year, but is one of the retailers that plans to offer more hours to its normal sales staff rather than hire additional workers, the Wall Street Journal stated.

Best Buy, is another retailer that will hire fewer seasonal workers. The company expects to hire 15,000 workers, down from 29,000 last holiday season, CEO Brian Dunn told Reuters in a recent interview. He also said that Best Buy is counting on overtime from its permanent staff to fill the gap.

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Macy’s, with nine stores in the St. Louis metro area, is one of the few retailers that plans to hire more holiday staff than last year. It plans on hiring 78,000 seasonal workers across the country in retail stores, call centers and distribution centers. Macy's employs about 170,000 associates on a year-round basis.

Macy’s has already started to hire staff for distribution centers and receiving departments and store sales positions. Those interested in applying for a part-time, seasonal job can fill out an application online.

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Toys “R” Us plans on hiring its typical seasonal work force—about 40,000 extra employees. The company said that it often offers its seasonal employees full-time work and 10 percent of its current staff was hired as temp workers in 2010. The company's location near , along with its location at St. Louis Mills are both currently hiring.

“We are proud to create tens of thousands of jobs across the country this Christmas, while providing the potential for hardworking individuals to find a permanent position with us,” said Dan Caspersen, Executive Vice President, Human Resources at Toys “R” Us. The company will continue to hire workers as needed through November.

Wal-Mart and TJX, which operates T.J. Maxx and , say holiday employment will the same as 2010.

On the Horizon:

You can nominate a Small Business Person of the Year (2012) to the U.S. Small Business Administration. The deadline for nominations is November 2011. Awards are handed out during National Small Business Week, which will be in May 2012.


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