Video: Holiday Helpers

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COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) -Holiday shopping is in full swing already and retailers across the nation plan to hire 36% more seasonal employees than in 2011. Some businesses in Columbus say they’ve prepared just in time.

Christmas is well on it’s way and local retailers have been hiring since October for the holiday season. Animal lovers this year in Columbus won’t have to worry, Pet Smart Store Manager Wes Frazier says he’s hired five new people for the holiday rush, to keep their customers happy.

“We do have a lot more customer traffic, this weekend we have the adoption event plus the Santa Claus event. So we got a couple events going on this weekend which actually we’ll have to require more people to be on the floor,” said Store Manager Wes Frazier.

One of his recent hires says she is grateful for the work. Any extra cash especially over the next few weeks will come in handy for holiday gifts.

“I was looking for a job preferably full time but I would take anything..moneys tight,” said cashier Candace Patton.

It’s always a full parking lot during the holiday season and more people shopping means more hands needed to help inside the stores.

The JC Penny in Columbus is seeing it’s own increase in customers. Managers are having to pay extra close attention to employee schedules to have more people on one shift.

“We’re hired more people in store and we go ahead and staff the store based on traffic so we’re able to ahead and get more customer inter phase with our associates, be it either helping customers find what there looking for or cashier to help ring people up,” said Store Leader Victoria Aurigemma.

According to USA Today, 30% of seasonal employees will continue working with the company in year-round positions even after the holiday season.

Categories: Local News

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