The largest retailer and private employer in the world is beefing up its payrolls with the addition of at least 60,000 seasonal workers for the upcoming holiday season, according to Gisel Ruiz, chief operating officer for Walmart U.S.
Wal-Mart also said the 10% increased holiday hiring won’t take away from its employees working additional hours if they so chose.
“We know this is the busiest time of year for our stores and we are going to make sure we are delivering for our associates and customers. We will have more registers than ever open during peak shopping hours between Black Friday and Christmas,” Ruiz said.
Other retailers have also announced their holiday hiring plans in recent days. Kohl's and Target are hiring 67,000 and 70,000 holiday workers, respectively. Both have fewer stores than Wal-Mart. Kohl’s is adding 34% staff this year than hired for the 2013 holiday season. Target’s hiring is on par with 2013.
Package delivery giants UPS and FedEx are also ramping up their seasonal worker counts anticipating more online sales this holiday season. UPS announced it will hire 95,000 seasonal workers, almost twice the amount last year. Memphis-based FedEx is adding about 50,000 more workers, up 50% from the 2013 season.