Target (TGT.N) said on Tuesday it will hire nearly 100,000 employees for the holiday season and offer deep discounts starting in October, as the U.S. retailer braces for the competitive shopping period.
This year, U.S. holiday sales are expected to grow at their slowest pace in five years, as consumers spend cautiously due to tightening household budgets and lingering worries over the economy.
Even as the U.S. job market starts to cool, Target's hiring numbers for 2023 match its plans to hire 100,000 employees over the last two years.
Last week, a report from career consultancy firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed that weaker spending coupled with increased labor costs would result in U.S. retailers hiring the lowest number of seasonal workers this year since 2008.
In 2022, the world's largest online retailer Amazon.com (AMZN.O) planned to hire 150,000 employees in full-time, seasonal, and part-time roles across its operations in the U.S., while retail bellwether Walmart (WMT.N) had said it would add 40,000 workers in seasonal and full-time roles.
Macy's said on Monday it would hire more than 38,000 full and part-time seasonal workers, fewer than the 41,000 employees it had announced to hire in 2022.
On the other hand, last week retailer Bath & Body Works (BBWI.N) said it was looking to hire 2,500 seasonal employees at its four Ohio-based distribution centers.
Target also said it is offering items under $25 across apparel, home, food, and essentials and is returning with its fall savings event starting Oct. 1-7, giving discounts on items including trending gifts and everyday essentials.
Amazon is also kicking off its second 'Prime Day' for the year on Oct. 10-11 in an attempt to lure in bargain-hungry customers.
Macy’s Inc.'s holiday shopping season efforts will involve bringing on tens of thousands of people in seasonal roles this year.
The company, which owns Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury, on Monday said its planned seasonal hiring would amount to over 38,000 jobs. They will include openings on a full-time and part-time basis, according to the press release.
The total, which includes jobs for stores and distribution centers, was "consistent with open positions in 2022," Macy’s said.
Shoppers exit a Macy's department store in Las Vegas on Nov. 7, 2021. (Bridget Bennett/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
It marks a small decline from its plans for 2022’s holiday season. For that year, the retailer’s announced target had been over 41,000 seasonal workers, as FOX Business reported at the time.
"The holidays are one of Macy’s, Inc.’s most important seasons to deliver a great shopping experience for our customers and our colleagues are the company’s greatest brand ambassadors at this special time of year," Chief Transformation and Human Resources Officer Danielle Kirgan said in a statement.
People walk past the large Macy's billboard on a building in front of the Macy's Herald Square store in New York City on Oct. 8, 2021. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Macy’s also revealed the dates for a pair of nationwide holiday recruitment events it plans to soon hold, with the first slated for Thursday. The second will happen Oct. 19, according to the company.
It pegged the amount of time required for an online application for a position at "as little as five minutes" and indicated hiring decisions usually came within two days of that.
In August, CEO Jeff Gennette said the company had "seen the Macy’s customer more aggressively pull back on spend in our discretionary categories" in recent quarters, noting an "ongoing shift to services and experiences." He made the comments during Macy’s second-quarter earnings call.
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"As we look to the remainder of the year, we are confident in the thoughtful and strategic promotional calendar and offerings we have planned and our ability to pivot to the right inventory at the right time and right value," he added.
A window display at Macy's on G Street NW in Washington, D.C., is pictured on April 24, 2020. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images / Getty Images)
While later speaking about the upcoming holidays, Gennette said Macy’s had "elevated the quality of our products" and "built strong value across our categories from top market to private brands." He also predicted a "strong holiday for toys."
Gennette told analysts and investors some other steps Macy's was taking for the holiday season would include collaborating with its luxury brands to "introduce high-touch, unique experiences, events and pop–ups curated around the interests and shopping patterns of our best customers" at Bloomingdale’s and introducing new products at Bluemercury.
Macy's Inc
Roughly 94,600 non-seasonal employees worked for Macy’s Inc. on either a full-time or part-time basis as of the end of January, according to the company’s latest annual report.