Macy’s expands staff for holiday shopping season
Macy’s has announced plans to hire 83,000 seasonal employees at its Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores, call centers, distribution centers and online fulfillment centers nationwide for the 2013 holiday season, representing a 3.8% increase from last year’s 80,000 seasonal hires.
“Our goal is to be well-staffed to welcome and serve customers throughout the busy holiday season, whether they are shopping or buying in stores, online or via mobile devices,” said Terry J. Lundgren, chairman, president and CEO. “We first offer our current associates the opportunity to work extra hours over the holidays, then supplement our ongoing workforce with seasonal hires. Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s are favorite places to shop through the holidays, and our seasonal associates enjoy the energy and excitement of working for our company at this festive time of the year.”
Seasonal associates at Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s serve customers on the selling floor, work in store operations positions, interact with customers via the telephone in call centers and staff the distribution and fulfillment centers that coordinate shipments to stores and directly to customers who buy online.
In particular, the seasonal workforce has grown in recent years in the company’s network of online fulfillment centers in support of increased sales generated by the company’s omnichannel business strategy. In 2013, approximately 6,600 of the 83,000 total seasonal positions will be based in the four online fulfillment centers. In addition, approximately 1,200 seasonal positions will be assigned to work in the fulfillment areas of the 500 Macy’s stores that are equipped to fill and ship orders directly to customers.
Most seasonal positions are part-time, often with flexibility to fit the availability of the individuals hired. Many positions require the applicant to work evenings, weekends or overnight. In some cases, temporary seasonal associates are offered open year-round positions based on their skills and performance over the holiday season.
Applications for seasonal positions at Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s are being accepted at www.macysJOBS.com and www.bloomingdalesJOBS.com. Candidates who submit applications online will receive a response via email. Hiring for store sales positions will begin in mid-October. The company has already begun hiring for sales support positions, such as in distribution centers, call centers and store receiving.
“We have many examples of associates who started with us in temporary seasonal positions and stayed to enjoy a long and fulfilling career with our company. Seasonal employment is often an opportunity to get to know potential future employees and to identify talent that we can recruit as needs arise,” Lundgren said. “The holidays are a magical time of year, and helping customers select gifts from Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s is a special experience that generations of associates have enjoyed and found rewarding.”
Macy's, Inc. employs about 175,700 associates on a year-round basis. The company operates about 840 department stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico under the names of Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, as well as the macys.com and bloomingdales.com websites. The company also operates 13 Bloomingdale’s Outlet stores. Bloomingdale’s in Dubai is operated by Al Tayer Group LLC under a license agreement.