Target will have twice as many workers dedicated to contactless services for Drive Up and Order Pickup for the holiday season, as retailers prepare for an unusual shopping season while the country still grapples with the coronavirus pandemic.
The Minneapolis-based retailer also plans to hire more seasonal team members to staff its distribution centers.
Overall, seasonal hiring will be about the same as last year.
Seasonal workers throughout the company will get a starting wage of $15 an hour and receive access to health care through free virtual doctor visits and full paid leave for 14 days for those diagnosed with COVID-19.
Existing Target employees can work additional hours in their current role and train to work in other areas of the store.
“We do expect this to be a very different holiday season,” said Target CEO Brian Cornell, in a media call Thursday morning.
Last year, Target brought on an additional 130,000 workers to help with the seasonal rush.
In the Twin Cities, Target plans to hire about 6,000 seasonal workers at stores and 1,400 hires at its distribution centers. Starting wages for distribution center workers in the Twin Cities will begin at $18 an hour.
During the first half of 2020, demand for contactless fulfillment services quadrupled for Target, and the company said it expected those services to still be in high demand later in the year.
In the second quarter, Target reported same-day services grew 273% with Drive Up where workers bring ordered products to customers’ vehicles up more than 700% from the same time last year and sales delivered to customers homes via Shipt growing more than 350%.
During the summer, Target announced its holiday deals will begin to be offered online and in stores earlier starting in October as a way to cut down on crowds at its stores.
Similar to other major retailers like Walmart and Best Buy, Target also announced it would be closed Thanksgiving Day. Target didn’t share additional details about its Black Friday plans on Thursday.
This holiday season Target plans to make 20,000 more products including gifts, essentials and fresh and frozen groceries available for pick up and delivery.
Target isn’t the only retailer to beef up in preparation for the holidays.
Walmart has reported that it will hire 20,000 seasonal employees to help pack and ship online purchases at tis fulfillment centers.
Twitter: @nicolenorfleet