The 2011 holiday season brings a bit of good news for those faced with unemployment, as retailers plan to hire a sizable number of workers this year. According to a National Retail Federation forecast, retailers will likely add about 490,000 mostly part-time jobs this year to accommodate for an anticipated increase in sales.
Hiring Could Perk Up Unemployment
In early October, the National Retail Federation (NRF) projected that retailers would open the door to several hundred thousand jobs to help with productivity during the holiday season. In its November forecast, it projected the same numbers, largely due to an expected increase of 2.8 percent in sales.
While holiday sales jumped higher last year– around 5.2 percent– the number of jobs year are expected to remain the same, which is great news for Americans battling unemployment and searching for temporary income.
The projection for seasonal workers is also good news for the current jobs market, which failed to meet expectations, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Friday. The report revealed that while 80,000 positions had been added in October, at least 150,000 jobs must be added each month to keep up with population growth.
More Jobs from Retailers Like J.C. Penney, Macy’s and Kohl’s
Though the NRF expects hiring to remain about the same this holiday season, some individual retailers say they plan to boost jobs from last year:
- J.C. Penny: The department store is expected to create an additional 37,000 jobs, up from 30,000 holiday hires in 2010.
- Macy’s: The department store expects to increase holiday jobs by about 5 percent.
- Kohl’s: Representatives from Kohl’s also say they plan to increase seasonal jobs by about 5 percent.
- TeleTech: The customer service and marketing call-center for retailers and technology makers is developing 4,400 jobs for seasonal workers, up 60 percent over last year.
- FedEx: FedEx plans to provide an extra 20,000 jobs to aid in delivering holiday packages.
Other retailers planning to increase jobs this year include Target, which expects to bring in slightly more than the 92,000 seasonal workers it added last year. UPS, Wal-Mart and TJX, which operates T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, plan to maintain their hiring numbers from 2010.
Toys R Us and Best Buy are among retailers that say they will decrease hiring. According to last reports, their hiring will drop by 12 percent and 37 percent, respectively.
