Retailers Bulk up for Holiday Shopping Season

By Robert Davis
Nov 13 2010

Amazon announced this morning that they would add 15,500 more jobs for the holiday season in locations all over the US.

Amazon, like many US retailers, uses temporary workers to help fill and ship orders during the busy holiday shopping season. The online retailer is adding far more positions this year than it has in the past, a sign that things are starting to improve.

Amazon is not the only company that plans to bulk up for the busiest times. Sears is well-known as the largest holiday employer. Each year the company doubles the size of their workforce for each and every store in the franchise. 90% of the employees will be dismissed in January.

This is a common practice for the retail industry. Adding temporary positions has become status quo for the retailers who need that extra help when the stores will be overrun with consumers looking for those holiday gifts.

Security personnel are the most likely candidates for the holiday positions. With the crush of consumers that will flow through the doors, retailers are looking for ways to counteract the massive product loss that is often found during these busier times.

More than a dozen large retailers have announced that they will add hundreds if not thousands to their ranks for the next two months.

Some of the temporary workers will be rewarded with a permanent position within the company while the rest are sent back home with a few weeks