Companies Hiring for the Holidays Looking to Fill 930K Jobs

As the holidays near, the same companies that you’re browsing through to find gifts and supplies are likely hiring — in the thousands. And maybe even tens or hundreds of thousands.

Seasonal jobs can help you recoup costs related to gift giving or traveling, and they may even blossom into a full-time career come January and beyond.

Even in a “normal” year, it’s difficult for companies to find and onboard a fleet of new seasonal recruits. This year hiring for the holidays may prove especially tricky. Long before this hiring season, employers in the service industry experienced what they called a “labor shortage.” Basically, for reasons that are hotly contested, they couldn’t find or hire enough workers.

If you’re looking for seasonal work, this all translates to good news. To entice workers, many employers are offering $15 starting wages or higher, sign-on bonuses and interesting benefits.

Here’s a look at who’s hiring ahead of the holidays and how to apply.

Walmart (and Sam’s Club): 170,000 Seasonal and Permanent Jobs

In recent years, Walmart’s seasonal hiring plans have been modest (20,000 last year) or nonexistent. This hiring season, however, Walmart reigns supreme with the largest hiring initiative we’ve seen so far.

Walmart first unveiled 20,000 permanent openings related to its supply-chain operations and then followed up with 150,000 more openings, “most of them permanent” and full-time, according to the announcement. Openings at Sam’s Club, which Walmart owns, are also included in these figures.

Supply-chain openings include:

• Order fillers
• Forklift operators
• Freight handlers
• Technicians
• Operations managers

In-store positions include:

• Cashiers
• Online order fillers
• Stockers
• General merchandise retailers
• Auto-care retailers
• Pharmacy retailers

While Walmart does not provide a company-wide minimum wage, it says its average starting wage for in-store jobs is $16.40 with some paying as much as $34 per hour. For supply-chain positions, the average starting pay is $20.37.

Apply: www.careers.walmart.com or through the [email protected] app.

Amazon: 165,000 Permanent Jobs

Since the start of the pandemic, Amazon says it’s hired more than 450,000 people. And it’s about to add 165,000 more.

Amazon’s massive hiring spree was announced at the start of hiring season. However, all of the positions are permanent. In recent years, Amazon has eschewed hiring temporary positions and instead has focused on permanent ones.

Amazon revealed its hiring plans in waves, first announcing 40,000 tech and corporate openings — then 125,000 more logistics and warehouse related roles.

Major corporate and tech openings are in IT, engineering, administrative work, HR, customer service and other areas. The majority of Amazon’s openings are at warehouses and fulfillment centers, which include package sorters, delivery drivers and shoppers (which work in grocery warehouses or embedded in WholeFoods stores).

Amazon boasts a company-wide minimum wage of $15, and all full-time positions are eligible for health care, retirement and paid-time-off benefits starting the first day.

Apply: For corporate positions, use www.amazon.jobs; for warehouse positions, use www.amazon.com/apply

UPS: Over 100,000 Seasonal Jobs

Between October 2021 and January 2022, UPS plans to boost its workforce with more than 100,000 seasonal workers. The shipping and logistics company frequently hires en masse ahead of the holidays to be able to handle an influx of packages.

A slew of part- and full-time roles are available this hiring season. In-demand positions include package handlers, delivery drivers, driver helpers and personal-vehicle delivery drivers (i.e., you use your own vehicle to deliver packages).

Eligible seasonal workers may receive up to $1,300 to offset college expenses, and the company has a track record of offering seasonal workers permanent positions.According to UPS’s hiring announcement, applicants may get a job offer within 30 minutes of applying.

Apply: www.jobs-ups.com

Target: 100,000 Seasonal Jobs

Target is known for its mass hiring sprees each fall. And while 100,000 is a notable sum of openings, it’s 30,000 fewer than the previous two years.

Part- and full-time store-front positions are available, including roles in general merchandise, technology, beauty, guest services, order fulfillment and more. And those embedded Starbucks stores? They need a ton of baristas as well.

All seasonal workers at Target will be eligible for the company-wide $15 minimum wage, a 10% in-store discount (and 20% for certain wellness products) and free mental health counseling. Seasonal workers who are 18 or older also qualify for free virtual doctor visits.

This year, Target is also unveiling a new employee-scheduling app that is intended to make picking up, swapping and dropping shifts much easier.

“Many seasonal team members will have the opportunity to remain with Target following the holiday season,” the company stated in its hiring announcement, and those permanent employees — part or full time — are eligible for Target’s new debt free college program.

Apply: www.targetseasonaljobs.com

United States Postal Service: 100,000 Seasonal and Permanent Jobs

Widespread delays plagued the USPS this past year or so. A new $40 billion investment seeks to remedy that, and a handsome portion of the money is going toward onboarding 100,000 new postal workers.

This hiring initiative has been in place since the start of the year, but it will run until January 2022, and a massive chunk of the hiring will take place in preparation for the holidays.

Open positions include retail-counter clerks, mail couriers (on-foot and by vehicle), tractor trailer delivery drivers, mail-truck drivers, mail processors and more.

Part-time, full-time, permanent and seasonal jobs are available. The USPS doesn’t have its own agency-wide minimum wage, though several job listings for entry-level roles indicated hourly wages start at more than $18.

Apply: www.usps.com/careers

FedEx: 90,000 Seasonal Jobs

FedEx recently wrapped up its “National Hiring Day” in a bid to start filling 90,000 seasonal openings.

The company is hiring primarily for its “FedEx Ground” division, which specializes in package delivery services at stores and warehouses. Store-front customer service reps, truck drivers, package handlers, operations managers are a few of the many in-demand positions.

FedEx does not have a company-wide minimum wage, but according to PayScale, the average FedEx Ground wage is about $16 — but can range from $10 to $33 depending on the position.

Apply: www.careers.fedex.com/fedex

Kohl’s: 90,000 Seasonal Jobs

Big box retailer Kohl’s is ramping up recruitment in its stores, distribution warehouses and e-commerce fulfillment centers. The company said it’s giving out bonuses of $100 to $400 for all hourly workers scheduled to work during the holidays.

Seasonal positions include stockroom, sales and customer-service workers, team leaders and general warehouse workers. Listings for in-store positions generally do not include pay. However, several listings for seasonal warehouse roles indicate wages between $14 and $17.

All hourly workers get a discount of at least 15% (35% on certain days), and those who work at least 30 hours per week can qualify for health insurance — seasonal workers included.

Kohl’s hiring announcement also suggests seasonal gigs have the opportunity to develop into permanent roles. Permanent employees who work at least 30 hours per week can also get dental and vision insurance.

Apply: www.careers.kohls.com or text APPLY to 24508

Macy’s Inc.: 76,000 Seasonal and Permanent Jobs

Macy’s seasonal hiring surge is nearing pre-pandemic levels. Macy’s Inc. comprises Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury stores.

Last year, ostensibly due to the pandemic, the corporation did not announce a major recruitment spree ahead of the holidays.

This year, its announcement is big — and quite specific:

• Roughly 48,000 positions are seasonal.
• 28,000 positions are expected to become permanent.
• About 21,000 jobs are fulfillment-center related.
• Approximately 54,415 positions will be in-store (50,000 in Macy’s, 4,100 in Bloomingdale’s and 315 in Bluemercury).
• The remainder of the positions will be focused on tech and customer-service for Macy’s credit-card holders.

In-store positions are related to customer-experience, sales, merchandise and operations, and key fulfillment-center openings are for general warehouse workers, package pickers and forklift operators. Part- and full-time jobs are available.

Macy’s Inc. did not share wage or benefits information for seasonal positions in its announcement, and that information isn’t included on seasonal job listings either.

Apply: www.macysjobs.com, www.bloomingdalesjobs.com and www. bluemercury.com/pages/careers

Aldi: 20,000 Permanent Jobs

Fueled by “aggressive” growth, the discount grocer Aldi is hiring 20,000 workers. While the timing of Aldi’s announcement comes during peak holiday hiring season, these positions will be permanent.

The openings comprise part- and full-time positions. Cashiers, general grocery workers, warehouse workers and stockers are especially in demand.

Aldi is also raising wages so that its average starting pay is $15 for grocery-store positions and $19 for warehouse positions, the company said in the announcement.

Aldi employees are eligible for health benefits (but not insurance), paid time off and retirement plans.

Apply: www.careers.aldi.us

Michaels: 20,000 Seasonal Jobs

Surpassing last year’s recruitment numbers, the arts-and-crafts retailer Michaels plans to bring on 20,000 new seasonal workers this year. It hired 16,000 seasonal workers last year.

In-store positions include cashiers, customer-service and sales team members, framers, stockers and more. Some positions are also available at Michaels’ distribution and support centers.

Michaels doesn’t offer a company-wide minimum wage, and pay isn’t included on most listings. Some warehouse jobs start between $16 and $17 an hour. According to Glassdoor wage data, retail and sales positions typically start around $10 or $11.

Seasonal workers are eligible for a 30% in-store discount but do not qualify for permanent employee benefits. However, the company stated in its hiring announcement that more than 50% of seasonal workers stayed on permanently last year.

Apply: www.michaels.com/jobs

Adam Hardy is a former staff writer for The Penny Hoarder who specializes in stories on the gig economy. 

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