Dive Brief:
- Amazon will add 120,000 seasonal workers to its ranks in time for the 2016 holiday season, up 20% from 100,000 such positions last year, according to a report from The Motley Fool.
- This number compared favorably with totals from brick-and-mortar rivals Target and Macy's; Target plans to add 70,000 additional workers (same amount as 2015), while Macy's said it would hire 2,000 fewer temporary staff members than it did a year ago.
- Per The Motley Fool, the shift is representative of the rise of e-commerce platforms and their continued disruption of holiday shopping trends. Amazon's market capitalization recently doubled that of retail giant Wal-Mart, and recent estimates show it might add $45 billion in sales during the holidays. The company is adding more staff to meet demand by keeping its delivery process fast and streamlined.
Dive Insight:
A perennial candidate for 'most-desirable' employer, Amazon's e-commerce platform has disrupted the labor market much in the same way it has the retail space. The company is known for experimenting with full-time benefits offerings for its part-time employees and office additions like giant greenhouses, which attempt to counteract reports that Amazon had been less-than-exemplary when it comes to HR practices.
There are number of things that HR leaders in the retail space can do to prepare for holiday hiring, like setting up the proper software technology and considering options like outsourcing. There's also been a bevy of developments in joint employer liability law, which you should definitely take the time to peruse if you work for a company that operates on a franchise model (like McDonalds).
