Retailers Face More Job Openings Than New Hires

With unemployment at new lows, staffing has become a challenge for retail companies. Retailers had 757,000 job openings in July, which is roughly 100,000 more than they had a year before, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the number of open jobs was higher than the number of people hired between March and June. In addition, data from LinkedIn has suggested that cities such as Seattle and New York have a dearth of workers with retail skills.

To attract potential workers, retailers are rolling out perks like paid time-off available to part-time employees along with higher wages. Retailers are hosting “recruiting marathons” to help hire thousands of people. In addition, retailers like JCPenney and Kohl’s have started hiring seasonal holiday workers in June.

Macy’s announced it is hiring 80,000 temporary workers for the holiday season, as well as adding more employees to handle online orders. Around 23,500 of the seasonal positions will be based in facilities that support online sales — an increase of 5,500 positions compared to 2017.

“Seasonal colleagues play an especially important role in the Macy’s holiday shopping experience, whether in a store, a fulfillment or distribution center or in a call center,” John Harper, Macy’s chief stores officer, said in a press release. “We’re thrilled to offer seasonal colleagues flexibility, competitive hourly income and a merchandise discount. Additionally, the majority of our colleagues — full-time, part-time and seasonal – are eligible for our Path to Growth Incentive in 2018.”

In addition, around 1,500 workers will be hired for customer service via telephone, email and online chat at centers in Mason, Ohio; Clearwater, Florida and Tempe, Arizona. Approximately 1,000 people will be hired to support the 92nd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Santalands and other holiday events.