Following a rebound in the housing market, The Home Depot, Inc. (HD) seems to be gearing up for the spring season, its busiest selling period, with plans to employ over 80,000 workers.
This Atlanta-based company has already begun the hiring process, which is open for candidates willing to work part time or full time at its stores and distribution centers. Further, these positions can be filled in by job seekers of all categories, including college students, retirees and experienced individuals.
Apart from securing seasonal employment, some of these workers will be entitled to other benefits if they convert their seasonal position into a permanent one. These benefits include gaining from the company’s profit-sharing plan – "Success Sharing" and its 401k match and tuition support.
Additionally, the company has arranged for nearly 40,000 web-supported devices as it plans to provide its associates with FIRST Phone, an in-store mobile technology. This digital undertaking will not only accelerate store checkouts, but will also lend associates a convenient tool for facilitating product location, explaining product features or checking inventory status.
Also, in a separate press release, the company stated that The Home Depot Canada is recruiting over 5,500 people to take up sales and operational roles, and help the company exploit through its busy season. These workers will also enjoy the aforementioned benefits and have access to other employee benefit programs.
Unlike other retailers, who await the holiday season, home improvement retailers such as Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW) and Home Depot wait for spring as customers usually do up their gardens, lawns and homes during this season. Moreover, per sources, recovery of home construction in Dec 2014 is likely to keep consumers active throughout this year.
Consequently, Home Depot is making all arrangements to embrace the spring season, as it also moves ahead of the major data breach tragedy faced last year. This breach had impacted nearly 56 million debit and credit cards.
However, we note that despite this debacle, the company managed to retain consumer confidence as its third-quarter fiscal 2014 sales of $20,516 million witnessed 5.4% year-over-year growth and also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $20,418 million. This improvement came on the back of a 3.2% rise in the number of customer transactions and an increase of 2.3% in average ticket size.
We look forward to the company’s fourth-quarter fiscal 2014 results, which are slated to release on Feb 24.
Other Stocks to Consider
Home Depot currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the retail sector include Target Corp. (TGT), with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and Restoration Hardware Holdings, Inc. (RH), with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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