Dick's Sporting Goods Is Hiring Fewer Seasonal Workers, and So Is Everyone Else
The retailer plans to bring on just over 11,000 holiday hires this year, about 20% fewer than last season, in a hiring pullback that is showing up across the entire industry.
Dick's Sporting Goods is trimming its holiday headcount by roughly a fifth, planning to add more than 11,000 seasonal workers this year compared with last season's total. The retailer is not an outlier. Challenger, Gray & Christmas is forecasting around 450,000 total retail holiday hires nationally, down 2.5% year over year, while the National Retail Federation projects a range of 325,000 to 375,000.
The math behind the pullback is straightforward: automation, AI-assisted inventory and checkout systems, and a tighter labor market have all reduced how many extra hands retailers need to survive peak season, even as sales forecasts for the holidays stay healthy. That is a strange combination for workers, who are being told the season will be bigger than ever while being offered fewer seats at the table.
For a brand built on selling the gear for active, outdoor, in-person living, a quieter seasonal floor is a small irony worth noting. It is also a preview of a holiday retail environment where "record spending" and "fewer jobs" are no longer contradictory headlines, just two sides of the same ledger.
Source: Retail Dive
Kyle Duford, Founder & Editor, BRNDWIRE. More from Kyle →
The Brand Briefing
Liked this? Get five more every morning.
The Brand Briefing: the stories moving brands, in your inbox at 7am your time. Free.
