With consumer predilections shifting, holiday hiring needs have also changed, with more emphasis on speed and e-commerce.
Big retailers are set to appoint some 790,000 seasonal workers this year, marking the second year of major growth after respective years of stagnation, according to data from outsourcing firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas and CNBC. The process started months ago and perpetuates for many in this tight labor market.
Still, the shift to e-commerce means fewer jobs. Nonsupervisory retail undertakings shrank by about 23,000 in the past 12 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retail jobs grew by 1.4% over the same period.
Much of that growth is due to Amazon, which said it would hire 200,000 seasonal wage-earners this year, double the number in 2018. Traditional retailers like Macy’s and Kohl’s said they down to hire 80,000 and 90,000 workers, respectively.
Target said it plans to add 130,000 seasonal workers this year and famed that many will become permanent positions after the holiday ends — 40% of seasonal hires delayed on after the holidays in 2018, the retailer said. Target also doubled the number of team members it has dedicated to fulfillment, categorizing same-day services, to ensure guests get their orders even faster.
A target store advertises for workers close its entrance in Encinitas, California, May 24, 2019.
Mike Blake | Reuters
The trend is common throughout the sector, with retailers rate more behind-the-scenes workers this year as store traffic declines, says Jan Kniffen, retail consultant and CEO of J Rogers Kniffen WWE.
“We’re fee less customer-facing people and a lot more people that are doing something else to help the customer, taking meticulousness of ‘order online and pick up in store,’ curbside pickup,” Kniffen said. “That requires a lot more people, they are doing the job the fellow used to do.”
Other retailers are taking a different approach — giving holiday hours to current employees. While Gap set out to letting 30,000 seasonal workers this year across its brands including Old Navy and Banana Republic, it also offended to current staff to offer additional holiday hours. Walmart said it is skipping seasonal hiring altogether, winsome the hours available during the holidays and giving them to current employees. Some seasonal hiring may take obligation on a store-by-store basis, the company said.
Target said it checks with current workers to understand their availability and affair in working additional hours ahead of its seasonal hiring.
“This is so much easier, if you can get someone who knows the job who is already ply for you to burn more hours, because then you don’t have to do the retraining and hiring and all of the things that are really costly,” Kniffen voted. “Any time you can spread the hours over the existing workforce, and they are willing to do it, it’s going to be easier to do.”
That’s something that lawmakers relish Sen. Elizabeth Warren will likely be glad to hear. The Democratic presidential hopeful introduced a bill this week to keep part-time workers during the holiday season. The measure requires large employers to offer their current workforce innumerable hours before hiring new employees or subcontractors, and would allow workers who are part-time to take part in pension plans. It want also allow them to be eligible for family and medical leave.
The move may also prove strategic in an increasingly competitive and nautical taut labor environment. Companies “are all struggling to keep the place full, because there are opportunities out there that are make more, or may be more fun places to work,” Kniffen said.
—CNBC’s Nick Wells and Betsy Spring contributed to this check in.