Macy's said Wednesday it plans to hire 80,000 temporary workers for the holidays, matching its hiring at the start of the season last year.
The company said it's expecting "a strong and successful holiday shopping season." For last December, Macy's had initially announced plans to hire 80,000 workers but ultimately hired 87,000 temporary jobs to match heightened traffic in stores.
Macy's, like its rivals, has been investing heavily in its workers as the labor market in the U.S. remains extremely tight. Companies are competing more and more for the best talent, as tech giants like Amazon and Alphabet are wooing younger workers with new perks.
Kohl's kicked off retailers' hiring for the holidays this year in July, "earlier than ever before." Kohl's said at the time it would offer "competitive wages" and special "associate shop" days for seasonal employees, as incentives.
Macy's said Wednesday it will offer seasonal workers in 2018 the chance to be eligible for bonuses if certain sales targets are met, as the company aims to get back to same-store sales growth by year-end.
Macy's said it will staff 23,500 positions at its fulfillment centers to help with online orders, an increase of 5,500 jobs from 2017. It will hire 1,500 people to work at call centers for customer service — in Mason, Ohio; Clearwater, Florida; and Tempe, Arizona — and 1,000 people to work at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The jobs at fulfillment centers specifically will be in Goodyear, Arizona; Cheshire, Connecticut; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Portland, Tennessee; Martinsburg, West Virginia; Sacramento, California; Stone Mountain, Georgia; Secaucus, New Jersey; and Joppa, Maryland.
There will be a hiring event at Macy's stores on Oct. 18.
Macy's shares were up about 2 percent Wednesday morning, trading above $37. The stock has climbed more than 65 percent over the past 12 months, bringing the retailer's market cap to about $11.3 billion.