Dive Brief:
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Home-improvement retailer Lowe’s said on Thursday it has begun hiring the first wave of some 46,000 extra employees for the busy spring and summer gardening season, 15% more than it did last year. The additional, mostly part-time workers will start in February in some areas of the country, and continue working through September.
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The hires come in all areas, with an emphasis on the needs of the retailer’s busiest season, including cashiers, stockers, lawn and garden clerks, and workers who can also help customers assemble items like lawn tractors, carry out bigger items to their cars, or help with pick-up orders that people have bought online.
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The company also said Jennifer L. Weber has been named the company’s chief human resources officer effective March 1, replacing Maureen K. Ausura, who is retiring. Weber most recently was an executive at Duke Energy.
Dive Insight:
Home-improvement retailers like Lowe’s have been cautious about hiring in past years as spending remained iffy even as the recession ebbed. The retailer hired about 30,000 seasonal workers last year, and that was already 5,000 more than in 2014.
"To help customers during our peak season, Lowe’s is hiring about 6,000 more seasonal employees than last year," said Scott Purvis, Lowe’s VP for human resources operations. "Seasonal positions offer flexible work hours, a 10 percent employee discount and often can be an entry point for regular part-time or full-time employment.”
Mooresville, NC-based Lowe’s was founded in 1946, owns more than 1,845 home improvement and hardware stores., has about 265,000 employees, and had sales of $56 billion in 2014.