Dive Brief:
- Retailers and e-commerce sites are already posting seasonal jobs for the holiday peak season, and they're raising wages and slackening hiring rules — like screening policies — to incentivize potential workers to apply, The Wall Street Journal reported.
- According to the Journal, the unemployment rate is near a record low, partly because of all the logistics jobs popping up to service e-commerce distribution and fulfillment centers.
- Walmart is planning to hire 5,000 seasonal workers for e-commerce operations, Macy's plans to bring on 18,000 (35% more than last year), XPO Logistics plans to hire 6,000 (20% more than last year) and Radial plans to hire more than 27,000.
Dive Insight:
It's no wonder retailers are beefing up their e-commerce staff for the holidays — as Amazon Prime Day showed, consumers love to take advantage of online deals, and come Christmastime, consumers are likely to buy gifts in bulk from e-commerce sites or online retailers.
Amazon Prime Day revealed a significant uptick in sales for the e-commerce giant, which is perhaps why it hosted Amazon Jobs Day to hire thousands of full-time and part-time workers in preparation for the upcoming holiday season. The e-commerce giant is already on top of seasonal hiring, banking on competitive wage-and-benefits packages including 20 weeks' paid maternity leave, retirement plan options and paid college tuition through the Career Choice program.
When it comes to competing with other companies' wages, Amazon is also in the lead: for example, Amazon warehouse positions in Maryland pay a couple dollars more than Walmart's and Macy's warehouse positions, according to Glassdoor and Indeed data.
Retailers may need to up their salary offerings if they're going to meet their projected seasonal hiring quotas. The holiday season is a big opportunity for revenue growth, and although retailers like Walmart have been adjusting their business models to accommodate consumers' expectations (specifically for fast, free or cheap delivery of goods bought online), the real test will be how quickly and cost-effectively each company's supply chain moves goods from producers to warehouses to eager holiday shoppers' doorsteps.
How the retailers do will likely show up in their financials next year.
