Dive Brief:
- Hy-Vee is looking to fill nearly 10,000 positions across its stores in eight states and distribution centers in Chariton and Cherokee, Iowa, the Midwest grocery announced Wednesday.
- The positions range from temporary to permanent positions and include part- and full-time roles for online personal shoppers, cashiers, stockers and other positions. Hy-Vee has the highest need for jobs in some of its largest markets, including Des Moines, Iowa, where it's seeking 1,500 workers; and in the Omaha, Nebraska, metropolitan area and Minneapolis, with each market looking to fill 1,000 positions.
- Hy-Vee said in the announcement that its hiring spree is part of its plans to accommodate shoppers’ “evolving needs” during and after the holiday season, along with supporting new stores.
Dive Insight:
With its nod to changing consumer shopping habits, Hy-Vee’s announcement implies that bringing on thousands of employees is more than just a seasonal hiring stint.
As the pandemic fuels an e-commerce boom for grocers and retailers, Hy-Vee has spent the last eight months responding to elevated sales and rolling out new initiatives to make shopping more convenient. Those efforts include rolling out two-hour express pickup, expanding click-and-collect to SNAP customers and offering curbside meals to-go. This fall, Hy-Vee started adding DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse “shop-in-shops” at select stores.
During the pandemic, the grocer has also made strides on labor management and efficiency measures, from deploying a new platform to communicate with its employees to cutting workers’ cleaning responsibilities by adding an autonomous shopping cart sterilization system at more than 200 stores.
It’s unclear from the announcement how many of the more than 10,000 open positions are seasonal. Already, many retailers, including Kroger, Walmart, Target and Shipt, have said they are looking to boost their workforce before shoppers start ticking items off their shopping lists for the holidays.
