Target, in a tight labor market, lowers holiday hiring goal

Sep 23, 2021

Target will hire fewer seasonal workers this year as it navigates a tight labor market and will instead offer more hours to current employees

NEW YORK (AP) — Target will hire fewer seasonal workers this year as it navigates a tight labor market and will instead offer more hours to current employees.

About 100,000 seasonal workers will be hired nationwide, the company said Thursday, about 30,000 less than last year. Many of those workers will be offered jobs beyond the holiday season.

Employers have struggled all year to find enough workers. They've increased hourly pay, announced signing bonuses and cast aside previous minimum standards like a high school diploma. Companies are also making applications more convenient. UPS this month said it will hire more than 100,000 people for the holiday rush and many of them will get a job offer within 30 minutes of applying.

In its own bid to attract more workers last month, Target said that it would spend $200 million over the next four years to offer its workers free undergraduate and associate degree programs as well as certificates in business-oriented majors at select institutions.

The decision by Target to lower its hiring goals may be shared by others. Global recruiting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. predicts retailers will add 700,000 workers during this year’s holiday season, more than 36,000 fewer than in 2020, though hiring before the pandemic struck was particularly robust and hires this year outpace those of 2019.

Retailers are now focused more on hiring people who will stay rather than temporary, seasonal workers, said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

And employers are trying to better accommodate the workers they can find.

Target, based in Minneapolis, is allowing a lot more potential flexibility through a new mobile scheduling app that allows workers to choose shifts or swap with other employees.

Many of the jobs now held by Target employees did not exist before the pandemic. More workers are serving in roles that allow customers to pick up goods ordered online at the store, or to pick them up curbside. The number of positions dedicated to getting customers what they want, where they want it, has tripled over the past two years, according to Target.

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