Macy's to Hire Fewer Holiday Workers This Year
While Macy's will hire 20 percent more workers during the holiday shopping season to staff distribution centers and warehouses that support its online business, total holiday hiring will fall year-over-year. 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. However, overall 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.
Total Retail's Take: Considering Macy's struggles this year, perhaps it's not surprising that the department store chain is taking steps to potentially soften the blow of a down holiday season. What's a bit surprising is that Macy's rival, Target, announced this week that it was increasing its holiday hiring 43 percent year-over-year. Analysts typically view seasonal hiring plans as a retailer's forecast for the quarter, indicating that Target is counting on a strong close to 2017. Macy's, on the other hand, is taking a more conservative approach, lowering its overall expenses in part to compensate for slower sales. 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.
