Holiday Hiring Season Begins (KSS, M, JCP, TGT, BBY, FDX, UPS)

In 2010, U.S. firms hired an estimated 627,000 temporary workers to help meet demand for customer service, package handling and warehousing. Of that total, about 495,000 were hired in retail stores. Last year’s total from retailers came in at around 500,000 temporary jobs. And while it is still early to be forecasting the number of jobs that will be available this year, the numbers have begun to come in.

Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS) announced this morning that it plans to hire 52,700 seasonal workers this year, an increase of 10% over the number it hired last year. Last year we noted seasonal hiring totals at other retailers:

• Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) – 78,000 temporary jobs
• Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) – 92,000 temporary jobs
• J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) – 35,000 temporary jobs
• Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) – 15,000 temporary jobs
• Toys “R” Us – 40,000 temporary jobs

Package delivery services FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) added 20,000 and 55,000 jobs, respectively, to deal with the 2011 seasonal crush.

The most recent forecast for holiday season sales for this year indicate a sales rise of 2.8% to 3%, compared with a 3.7% actual gain for the 2011 holiday season. Retailers also are expected to add more seasonal workers than last year, but the increase could be small.

Paul Ausick