Macy's to hire 80,000 workers for holidays, fewer than
last year
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 [September 15, 2017]
(Reuters) - Macy's Inc will
increase by 20 percent the number of workers it hires during the holiday
shopping season to staff distribution and warehouses that support its
online business, but total holiday hiring will fall.
The department store operator said on Thursday it would hire 18,000
holiday workers to fulfill online orders, including shipping and
packaging, an increase of about 3,000 from last year. But total hiring
for the holiday season will fall to 80,000 from 83,000 last year, the
company said, with Macy's operating 70 fewer stores than it did last
year.
Rival Target Corp <TGT.N> on Wednesday said it would hire 43 percent
more seasonal workers, or a total of 100,000, for the holiday season
rush.
It was the first time in five years that Target increased the number of
holiday workers it would hire, after the retailer reported a rise in
comparable-store sales for the first time in more than a year.
Seasonal hiring plans typically point to retailers' sales expectations
for the holiday season, which starts a day after Thanksgiving and
continues into early January and accounts for nearly a third of annual
sales.
U.S. staffing firm Radial expects retailers, including Neiman Marcus,
Ralph Lauren Corp <RL.N> and Toys R Us, to hire 35 percent more workers
this holiday season to fill positions at distribution centers as well as
for ancillary services such as order-online-pick-up-in-store and
doorstep delivery.
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A customer exits the Macy's flagship department store in midtown
Manhattan in New York City, November 11, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan
McDermid
Macy's, like other department store operators, has been grappling with weak
sales for years, as shoppers spend less on apparel and more on experiences, and
as competition from online retailers such as Amazon.com Inc intensifies.
To counteract these pressures, large chains are heavily investing in their
online businesses, including building distribution centers and logistic fleets
while shutting stores and cutting jobs.
More and more retailers are now relying on temporary workers to fill positions,
Moody's analyst Charles O'Shea told Reuters.
Macy's has lowered the headcount of its permanent employees by nearly 16 percent
over the last five years, filings show, and plans to shut 100 stores by the end
of this year.
Macy's last month repeated its outlook for a decline in sales for the fiscal
year ending in January of between 3.2 percent and 4.3 percent and a decline in
comparable-store sales of 2 percent to 3 percent.
(Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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