Slowdown? Walmart Goes Cautious On Its Hiring Plans Ahead Of This Holiday Season

Walmart Inc WMT looks to hire 40,000 workers in seasonal and full-time roles ahead of the big holiday season.
Walmart's new workers this year will include seasonal U.S. store associates, truck drivers in full-time positions, and service staff at call centers.
The hiring will likely bolster its online business and in-store, delivery and pickup operations ahead of a likely subdued holiday shopping season thanks to inflation, higher interest rates, a tight job market, and supply chain snarls.
Also Read: Walmart To Hire 20,000 Supply Chain Workers Ahead Of Holidays
Walmart, in September 2021, shared plans to hire 150,000. The hiring included seasonal staff, which led to overstaffing, denting Walmart's profits in the first quarter of 2022.
The leading U.S. retailer sounded cautious about holiday retail sales, planning to hire fewer workers than last year for the critical season in the middle of a slowing economy, Reuters reports.
Holiday retail sales will likely rise between 4% - 6% versus 15.1% in 2021, according to Deloitte.
Holiday shopping will likely start earlier as "stretched wallets create urgency," as per Salesforce, Inc CRM and Macy's Inc M.
Target Corp TGT has already started advertising Christmas as a shopping category.
At the same time, analysts expect a second Amazon.com Inc AMZN Prime Day of 2022, likely to be held in mid-October.
Price Action: WMT shares traded higher by 0.17% at $135 premarket on the last check Thursday.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons

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