Holiday Hiring 2012: Toys R Us To Add 45,000 Jobs

Toys “R” Us” is getting ready for the 2012 Holiday Hiring season. The world’s biggest toy store announced today that it would be hiring 45,000 temporary workers during the holiday season.

According to Reuters, that’s about 5,000 more workers than the store hired in 2011.

NBC reports that several major retailers are expected to hire more people during the 2012 holiday season than they did in 2011. Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said that retailers hired more than 660,000 workers last year. The firm predicts that nearly 700,000 workers will be hired this year.

John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said:

“Look for many to start at last year’s levels and hire additional workers only if strong sales early in the season warrant it.”

And it looks like Challenger, Gray & Christmas will be right. Kohl’s announced earlier this month that they would be hiring more than 52,000 workers this year, up 10% from last year, and Walmart recently announced that they would also be adding about 50,000 holiday jobs.

The 2012 holiday hiring season shows that retailers are growing more confident in the market but the job numbers are still well below their pre-recession mark.

In 2006, close to 750,000 jobs were added during the holiday season. In 1999, that number was closer to 850,000.