SHOPPING Retailers begin seeking applicants for holiday employment

DALLAS MORNING NEWS
It's time for job seekers to start applying for holiday retail work.
"We'll be hiring holiday helpers beginning over the next few weeks," said Merianne Roth, a spokeswoman for Pier 1 Imports Inc., which has about 1,100 stores nationwide. "We hire an average of two people per store."
Roth said Pier 1 looks to its customers as potential employees.
"If people are interested, they can certainly come into a Pier 1 store and ask a manager for an application," she said. "We always say good Pier 1 customers make great Pier 1 associates, because they know the product and love the product."
Hiring increase
According to the National Retail Federation, average monthly retail employment in 2003 was 23.47 million. During November and December, average retail employment was 24.39 million, a 3.9 percent increase.
Federation spokeswoman Ellen Tolley said that clothing, electronics and jewelry retailers are even more active on the hiring front.
"Stores that are traditional holiday shopping destinations actually increased employment by about 8 percent," she said.
Retailers will probably make a similar number of holiday hires this year, Tolley said.
Staffing firm Manpower recently released its latest quarterly survey of employers' intentions to hire or fire and found that the retail and wholesale trade sectors will be among the most active hirers in the fourth quarter, which includes the holiday season.
Manpower said 38 percent of retail and wholesale employers plan to add workers in the fourth quarter, compared with 6 percent who plan cutbacks.