Holiday hiring starts now! Check out who has openings in Central Virginia
RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - As tens of thousands of Virginians continue to look for work, the holidays are right around the corner. Now is the time to start applying for seasonal jobs, and the pandemic has brought on a wave of workers needed to fulfill historic numbers of online orders, and disinfect stores and fulfillment facilities.
COVID-19 has shifted how we do everything, including holiday shopping. Big sales are predicted to start even earlier this year, spreading out the rush as shoppers try to avoid packed stores (think Black Friday). Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Dick’s Sporting goods will all be closed Thanksgiving Day, a reversal of years past.
Online shopping is stronger than ever before, up 100 percent year over year. That could mean retailers hiring fewer traditional in-store workers in favor of employees who can fill, pack and ship.
Walmart will be hiring 20,000 employees across the U.S. to help fill online buys.
Target is anticipating hiring 130,000 employees for the holidays, including some at each of its Virginia stores. Target representatives say twice as many workers will be dedicated to the curbside and in-store pickup of online orders, compared with the first half of 2020, according to CNBC.
NBC12 confirmed Amazon will be hiring more than 600 full-time and part-time positions in its central Virginia centers, over the next few months.
Best Buy and arts and crafts chain Michaels are also planning to hire thousands of people this holiday season across the U.S., including here in central VA.
To get all those packages out on time, major shippers are expanding hours, delivery routes, and contracts with big retailers. CNBC also reports that FedEx expects to bring on 70,000 people, heading into its busiest season. That’s a 27-percent increase compared to last year’s holiday hiring blitz.
UPS confirms it will be hiring more than 100,000-holiday workers from October through January- 1,500 specifically in the Richmond area.
Head to job search and store websites now to apply. Some stores, like Dicks, have yet to announce their holiday openings but say they’ll be doing so in the next few weeks.
Copyright 2020 WWBT. All rights reserved.
