Home Depot stepping up spring hiring to 100,000 workers

(Reuters) – Home Depot Inc said on Tuesday it would hire more than 100,000 workers across its stores and warehouses, as the retailer gears up for its key spring selling season when demand for home-improvement products is at its peak.

The company has typically hired around 80,000 workers for spring over the past several years.

The spring season marks the busiest time of the year for home-improvement chains like Home Depot and Lowe’s Cos Inc as consumers get back to gardening or pick up projects around their homes after winter.

Home Depot has enjoyed a surge in demand for its products during the COVID-19 pandemic as stuck-at-home consumers splurged on remodeling their living spaces. The company has further benefited from professional builders and handymen resuming work on projects that were stalled during the pandemic.

The hike in hiring numbers comes at a time when companies ranging from retailers to restaurants are facing widespread labor shortages, while a fast-spreading Omicron variant threatens to dent businesses across sectors.

Home Depot said it was hiring for full-time and part-time roles, including customer service and sales, store support, freight, and warehouse workers, adding it will host a virtual spring career day event.

(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)