Walmart to hire 20,000 workers to meet demand

Bloomberg

Walmart Inc will recruit more than 20,000 workers ahead of the US holidays to prepare for an expected surge in online shopping amid the pandemic, its first large seasonal hiring in five years.
The world’s biggest retailer is readying itself for a holiday e-commerce battle with Amazon.com Inc by bringing on more seasonal staff to handle online orders at its US distribution centers. The beginning hourly rate is $15.75 and goes up to $23.75, the company said in a press release on Wednesday.
The two retail giants have attracted new consumers since the start of the Covid-19 crisis as consumers flocked to online options for products ranging from groceries to exercise gear and pet products. And Walmart recently introduced a subscription-delivery service, called Walmart+, to match the popular Amazon Prime offering.
“Over the past six months, our customers have been shopping differently,” said Scott McCall, executive vice president and chief merchandising officer of Walmart’s US operations. “We expect that will continue into the most important shopping season of the year — the holidays.”
Walmart, which had already hired more than 500,000 employees since March across its stores and supply chain, may face labour competition as the unemployment rate — while still historically high — drops from its pandemic peak. Amazon said it was hiring 100,000 full and part-time employees across the US and Canada, offering starting wages of at least $15 an hour.
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer expects that many consumers will be starting their holiday shopping early.