News: Target to hire 130,000 temporary workers for the upcoming holiday season

Recruitment

Target to hire 130,000 temporary workers for the upcoming holiday season

The escalating trade war and the growing possibility of a recession doesn't seem to have affected retailers' hiring plans.
Target to hire 130,000 temporary workers for the upcoming holiday season

Black Friday is still two months away, but the retailers have already started their seasonal hiring spree. On Monday, UPS announced plans to recruit around 100,000 holiday workers. Latest to join is, Target, which plans to hire more than 130,000 temporary workers for its stores and distribution centers.

The retailers are relying on higher hourly wages and perks to lure candidates. Target plans to pay $13 an hour to seasonal workers for the first time and also offer them discounts at stores. UPS, on the other hand, will offer students the opportunity to earn $1,300 for college expenses.

Owing to the economic slowdown and the ongoing trade war, seasonal hiring this year won't be a cakewalk. In fact, stores are facing trouble in filling job vacancies, despite a series of mass closures that have resulted in employment in retail falling by 74,000 so far this year.

Even if retailer manage to fill the positions of seasonal roles this year, the hired employees have the jobs only on temporary basis.

Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said, "Those positions hurt current part-time workers who desperately need and want more hours. Retailers create seasonal jobs without needed benefits and with no intent to ever hire people on for the long term positions that they really desire."

The approach that Walmart uses to manage the additional work in the holiday season is slightly different. It offers additional hours to some workers during the holidays instead of bringing on new hires.

Some other retailers often absorb some of the temporary hires for permanent roles in the company. But not all of the seasonal hires benefit.

For instance, last year, Target hired about 120,000 workers for the holidays.Out of which, more than 40 percent of those employees stayed on with Target past the holiday season.

Let's see how many of the temporary workforce gets moved into permanent jobs this year. That too, only if, retailers are able to hire enough number of seasonal workforce, given the current economic and employment scenario. 

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Topics: Recruitment, #Jobs

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