Macy's wants to hire 76,000 workers before the holidays, nearing pre-pandemic levels of employment

• Macy's is hiring 76,000 employees in its stores, call centers, distribution, and fulfillment centers.
• The new hires will help keep up with holiday shopping demands this season.
• 21,000 open positions are at its fulfillment centers to help with its supply chain and online order fulfillment.

Macy's is gearing up to do some major hiring ahead of the holiday season, nearly returning to pre-pandemic levels of employment.

The company, which owns Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury, is hiring 76,000 full-time and part-time employees in its stores, call centers, distribution, and fulfillment centers, it said on Wednesday.

While 48,000 of these roles are specifically for the holidays, seasonal positions don't always end. Last year, more than 6,100 seasonal hires joined the company permanently after the holidays, according to data from Macy's Inc.

Macy's also has 21,000 open positions at its fulfillment centers. The company hopes to hire "warehouse colleagues" and forklift drivers who can help with receiving, sorting, picking, packing, and online order fulfillment.

The company is hosting a special hiring event on September 23 at over 500 store locations and fulfillment centers, it added.

Analysts are bracing for a rough holiday season and recommend shoppers and businesses start preparing early. Last year, US e-commerce sales grew 47.2% annually between November 1 and December 24, Insider reported. But this year, with supply chain and labor shortages, holiday shopping could be unpredictable.

Walmart is hiring 20,000 workers in its warehouses to prepare for holiday-related disruptions. The new hires are set to permanently fill full-time and part-time roles that will last beyond the holiday rush, Insider reported.

Other companies, like McDonald's, are raising wages to incentivize workers to stay through the holiday season and encourage more candidates to apply.

Macy's, like many traditional retailers, was hammered by the COVID-19 pandemic and a pre-pandemic trend away from traditional brick-and-mortar shopping. But the company is getting back on its feet and in the second quarter, it raised guidance and said it will restart its dividend.

After seeing a spike in toy sales during the pandemic, the company also announced it will place Toys 'R' Us shops in over 400 of its locations by next year with access to the toy giant's private brands. Toysrus.com, now powered by Macy's, is currently online with an assortment of toy collections in time for the 2021 holiday season.

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