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Rather than prepare for the Black Friday door robbers and frenzy in store purchases before Christmas, many retailers and shipping companies are beginning to hire staff in anticipation of a deluge of online ordering and curbside pickups.
Walmart (WMT), which has already hired more than 500,000 workers in stores and across its supply chain since March to meet growing demand in the pandemic, said Wednesday that it will hire more than 20,000 temporary workers at e-commerce logistics centers in across the country “to prepare for an expected surge in online shopping.” Walmart has stores each year that attract seasonal associates, according to a spokesperson, but the last time Walmart hired a “large number of seasonal associates” was in 2015, when Walmart added 60,000 vacation workers to the stores.
Other companies are also preparing for the online shopping rush by adding curbside delivery, warehouse and pickup workers.
FedEx (FDX) said it will hire 70,000 workers, 27% more than last year, while UPS (UPS) It said it will hire 100,000 seasonal workers, the same as last year’s vacation employees. Flower delivery retailer 1-800-Flowers.com (FLWS) will bring in 10,000 employees to deliver bouquets to customers, 25% more than last year, and Michaels, the arts and crafts store, will add 16,000 seasonal jobs. That is 6% more than last year. Michaels (THAN) He said the works would help the chain, in particular, strengthen its online shopping and store pickup offering.
The overall hiring forecast for this holiday season “remains uncertain,” but “it is clear that the proportion of sales going online will hit record highs and that may cause permanent change in the future of holiday hiring,” Andy Challenger , senior vice president of outplacement company Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in an email.
Shoppers have bought more products online in recent months as they spend more and more time at home and limit their trips to stores. E-commerce sales for the second quarter of 2020 increased 31% to $ 211.5 billion from the previous quarter, the Commerce Department said last month. E-commerce accounted for 16.1% of US retail sales last quarter, down from 11.8% the prior quarter.
Deloitte predicted last week that e-commerce sales will grow between 25% and 35% from November to January to reach $ 196 billion compared to last year.
“E-commerce is likely to be a big winner because consumers have shown a clear move toward buying online rather than in physical stores,” said Daniel Bachman, Deloitte’s US economic forecaster, in a research report on the last week.
It’s not yet clear whether this year’s vacation hiring will be able to match last year’s vacation pace, which took place in a growing economy.
“Traditional retailers have been reluctant to commit to hiring targets for the holiday season, reflecting the uncertain business environment they are facing with skyrocketing unemployment, a decline in government stimulus and a shift in spending patterns from the US. consumer, “Challenger said.
Retailers added 702,000 jobs last season, 12% more than the previous year, while the transportation and warehousing sector added 295,000 jobs, about a 14% increase from the previous year, according to Challenger.
Other major retailers like Amazon (AMZN) and objective (TGT) I have yet to announce vacation plans.
Kohl’s (KSS), Macy’s (METER) and Gap (GPS), which together announced around 200,000 vacation hires last year, have yet to announce seasonal hires. All three have fought the pandemic and announced job cuts. JCPenney (JCP), which filed for bankruptcy in July, will hire 1,700 workers this year, after hiring 37,000 last year, according to Challenger.
Many clothing stores and department stores are cutting back rather than hiring.
The clothing and apparel accessories sector has lost 349,000 jobs since March. Overall, the retail sector has lost 570,000 jobs since March, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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