Target Seeks to Hire a Record 100,000 Temporary Holiday Workers

(Bloomberg) -- Target Corp., hoping to rebound from last year’s disappointing holiday performance, plans to hire a record 100,000 seasonal workers.

The goal is more than 40 percent higher than the 70,000 workers signed up last year, Target said Wednesday. The company will hold a nationwide hiring event Oct. 13-15 at all of its 1,816 stores.

Target’s move last week to permanently lower prices on thousands of products is a sign that this holiday season will be very competitive as the retailer looks to win back shoppers from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. Same-store sales in the final two months of last year fell 1.3 percent at Target, the company’s worst holiday results in three years.

Additionally, 4,500 temporary jobs will be filled at the Minneapolis-based company’s distribution and fulfillment centers, according to a statement.

To contact the reporters on this story: Lisa Wolfson in Boston at lwolfson@bloomberg.net, Matthew Boyle in New York at mboyle20@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Molly Schuetz