NEW YORK, Oct 16 (Reuters) – Walmart (WMT.N) signaled it has enough staff for the holiday season, as the U.S. giant fears a seasonal shopping downturn. It was another sign that retailers are refraining from the mass hiring that is typical during the busy season. .
“We are staffed and ready to serve our customers this holiday season,” Maren Drewett Wagoner, senior vice president of human resources, said in a LinkedIn post last week. Stated. “We are hiring throughout the year to ensure we can serve our customers no matter how they want to shop.”
A spokesperson said Monday that stores that need staff will offer additional hours to workers and increase staffing as needed.
The holiday shopping season traditionally begins the day after Thanksgiving (November 23 this year) and ends on Christmas, but it’s coming earlier each year. This period accounts for more than a third of the annual revenue of most retailers in the United States.
Walmart, like other retail chains, is cautious about the outlook for the holiday season, saying its customers are stressed by rising food prices, depleted savings and rising interest rates. This could hold back purchases of popular holiday items such as electronics, clothing and household goods, company executives said.
Rising labor costs are also a factor.
“Retailers are increasingly recognizing that labor costs are becoming increasingly high and cannot be passed on to consumers who are feeling the pinch of rising interest rates,” said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president at Challenger, Gray & Christmas. ” .
Neil Costa, founder of recruiting and marketing firm HireClix, said retailers are asking employees for more help with staffing this year.
“In the retail market, there is a greater movement than ever before to seek referrals rather than just spending all your money on advertising.”
Seasonal employment by U.S. retailers is expected to decline to levels last seen in 2008, while holiday season sales are at their lowest in five years, according to a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. It is estimated that this will increase.
While Walmart has been publicly reporting its hiring and job openings for years, posting about hiring on LinkedIn was unusual. A statement from America’s largest private employer, with 1.7 million employees, provided analysts with insight into the likely outcome of holiday shopping.
Walmart announced last year that it would hire 40,000 workers. The LinkedIn post does not specify any hiring goals for this year.
With the exception of Amazon, which plans to hire 250,000 workers during the holiday season, several other U.S. chains, including Macy’s, have announced modest holiday hiring plans.
According to talent acquisition firm iCIMS, applications for retail jobs in the U.S. rose 46% in the year to September, but the number of job openings fell 25% and actual retail jobs fell 12%. There is.
In the UK, retailers such as Sainsbury’s (SBRY.L) and Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) have seen a decline in sales since last year, despite one in three Britons planning to cut back on their Christmas spending. also expects to hire many temporary workers.
Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in New York.Editing: Mark Porter and Richard Chan
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.