Holiday hiring: 5 things we learned about local hiring this season

As retailers push early deals for shoppers this holiday season, thousands of jobs are being added to local distribution and logistics centers to meet the demand presented by increased online shopping.

This is the first year that online sales are expected to surpass in-store sales during the holiday season, with about 59 percent consumers planning to shop online. Though holiday sales are expected to increase overall compared to last year, a large part won’t be spent in brick-and-mortar stores.

Here's what we know about local hiring opportunities and this year's shopping trends:

1. DELIVERY COMPANIES HIRING

It takes hundreds of thousands of seasonal workers to deliver those millions of packages to the front doors of online holiday shoppers in Southwest Ohio. Delivery companies like FedEx and UPS will hire thousands of seasonal workers to meet delivery demands. UPS expects to handle 750 million packages nationwide during the holiday season — and that means major job opportunities. For the holiday season, the company is hiring 95,000 temporary workers, including drivers, package sorters and loaders.

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2. KOHL’S E-COMMERCE SITE LOOKING FOR WORKERS

As national retailers focus efforts online, more jobs are shifting to distribution and logistics than ever before. Kohl’s is looking to hire 2,400 workers at its e-commerce fulfillment center in Monroe for the holiday season.

3. AMAZON HIRING FOR THOUSANDS IN OHIO

Amazon is looking to hire 3,000 at its fulfillment sites in Ohio. Jobs available include positions in fulfillment centers, sortation centers and customer service sites, according to Amazon. Like last year, Amazon plans to transition thousands of holiday positions to regular, full-time roles after the holidays are over. The 120,000 seasonal positions Amazon will fill this year is on par with its holiday hiring in 2016.

» RELATED: Top 10 hottest toys of holiday season 2017

4. EARLY SALES THIS YEAR

Big box retailers like Walmart, Target, Meijer and Toys “R” Us are already announcing major sales, hoping to lure in customers earlier in the holiday season. Target already launched holiday sales, offering pre-Black Friday deals on toys, electronics and entertainment items online last Monday — and teasing to the store’s good deals on Black Friday weekend.

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5. SHIFTING SHOPPING TRENDS

“You’re just seeing that transformation of the retail industry,” said Gordon Gough, president of the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants. “I still think we’ll see crowds. Shopping is a social experience. They like to get up early with their family or finish Thanksgiving dinner and go shopping that evening. We’re all social beings and I don’t see that going away, but shoppers have more options. They can buy online, shopping at home on Thanksgiving night on their laptop will be done as well.”

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