Although
there are still well over 100 shopping days to go, major high street retailers
are already formulating recruitment plans for the Christmas period.
Argos
said it plans to recruit more staff than ever in the run-up to the festive
period in an attempt to stay one step ahead of the competition.
The
catalogue store group has drawn up plans to hire 22,000 temporary staff – 5 per
cent more than last year. The figure is equivalent to doubling staff numbers
over the three-month period.
Supermarket
chain Asda said it plans call its army of 8,000
seasonal workers back into stores, while rival Sainsbury’s said it expects to
take on a similar number to the 10,000 drafted in last year.
Meanwhile,
mail order and internet retailer Shop Direct, owned by the Barclay brothers,
has already launched an early recruitment push for its call centres in Preston.
The
retailer has contracted recruitment firm Adecco to
hire 165 temporary workers.
Harrods
is currently Santa’s busiest helper however, having opened it’s
10,000 sq ft Christmas floor at the start of August.
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