Retailers’ Recipe for the Holidays: Big Sales; Fewer Seasonal Workers<br />Holiday season employment<br />Across the country, retailers are expected to hire from 500,000 to 550,000 seasonal workers this holiday,<br />down from the roughly 575,000 who were hired last year, according to the National Retail Federation.<br />But like so much about the retail industry, holiday hiring is in flux, even as stores are poised for a big shopping season.<br />“During the holiday season, we have millions more hours available than we do<br />during any other time of the year,” a Walmart spokesman said in a statement.<br />This year the company said it would hire around 80,000 seasonal workers, about 4 percent fewer than last year.<br />Executives at Walmart said the decision to forgo adding thousands of seasonal workers was made partly<br />because so many store employees, including those working part time, having been trained in how to navigate new technologies, like hand-held devices for pricing goods and tracking inventory.<br />Ms. Colon, 36, is part of an army of temporary retail workers who are hired every year to help with the holiday shopping crush.<br />Nearly a quarter of those temporary workers, about 18,000, will be working in fulfillment<br />centers across the country, in places like Goodyear, Ariz., and Martinsburg, W. Va.<br />Macy’s is trying to stem the flow of sales to Amazon by pushing an “omni-channel” strategy meant to be all things to all shoppers: a helpful<br />and engaging shopping experience in stores, an alluring website and quick home delivery.
