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Improving Economy Changes the Holiday Hiring Dynamic

Dominique Hernandez is working longer hours these days. She has jobs to fill, people to train.

The back-office lead at Best Buy Co. Inc.’s Mission Valley store has been charged with rounding up temporary employees to boost the electronics store’s staff through the end of the year. Mission Valley is a big store so she needs 30 to 40 people, Hernandez said, adding she got a late start. She began her hiring one and a half months ago.

“Most stores start two months in advance,” she said.

’Tis the season for Hernandez and other managers like her, who augment payrolls in the weeks and months leading up to Christmas as they anticipate greater demand for their products and services.

At its San Diego offices on Eastgate Mall, near University Towne Center, e-commerce vendor ProFlowers says it is looking to fill 600 call-center positions. The business, part of Provide Commerce Inc., geared up for the holidays with a Saturday job fair on Nov. 8. The business also includes several other gift-giving websites.

United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) said it plans to hire approximately 600 seasonal employees in the San Diego region; 450 of them will help drivers deliver packages. Competitor FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) has also been hiring, said Phil Blair, executive officer for Manpower Staffing San Diego. Also hiring, Blair said, is mega-retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT).

The National Retail Federation said it expects retailers to hire between 725,000 and 800,000 seasonal workers during the holidays. What remains to be seen is whether that beats the 768,000 hired in the same period of 2013. The industry group, based in Washington, D.C., said that it expects November and December retail sales to be $616.9 billion this year, 4.1 percent over 2013. The number excludes autos, gas and restaurant sales.

Holiday sales have grown an average of 2.9 percent over the past 10 years, the federation said.

Retailers should have a “very good year” with the price of oil down, said Manpower’s Blair. Jerry Sanders, CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, said consumers probably have more disposable income these days. Even so, Sanders said, small business owners are probably more cautious, and less inclined to hire, than large ones.

“We just went through the worst recession in most of our lives,” he said. “That is probably fresh in the minds of small businesses.”

Flexing Up

The people at Pro Performance Sports have been adjusting the number of temporary staff members at the company office and warehouse on Faraday Avenue in Carlsbad. The company distributes its own line of sports training products under the SKLZ brand.

The business has a lot of temporary workers these days to help with a “very large” fourth quarter, said Laura Wolf Stein, vice president of marketing. “We will flex up as the demand increases in the next few weeks for Black Friday/Cyber Monday,” Wolf Stein said by email.

Farther inland, in Escondido, Stone Brewing Co. is bumping up its payroll by hiring temporary driver assistants and warehouse workers. This year it is bringing on 15 to 20 people. The busy season at the company warehouse is November and December, according to a spokeswoman. Stone brewed 6.6 million gallons of beer in 2013 and operates two restaurants; it normally has 800 employees in San Diego County.

One business that is not hiring temporary help is San Diego-based Petco Animal Supplies Inc. Like SKLZ, it has an e-commerce business (though fulfillment is at other points around the country). Privately held Petco also has retail stores, though it is not increasing staff for the holidays. Employees need a certain level of training on customer service and the proper care of animals, said a spokeswoman by email, and hiring is spread throughout the year.

Employee’s Market?

“Hire talent and train skill,” said Hernandez, on the floor of the Mission Valley Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) store, where she is often called away to help fellow employees or guide a customer to a product. Hernandez herself started with the Minnesota-based retailer as a seasonal cashier five years ago. Seasonal work, said Manpower’s Blair, is “a great way to get your feet in the door” of a business.

It might become a little harder for people such as Hernandez to find help. “It’s evolving from an employers’ market to an employee’s market,” Blair said. The “really easy” hiring of the last four years is nearing an end, the executive said.

Asked whether the jobs at Best Buy pay minimum wage, Hernandez said wages depend on department.

In California, minimum wage grew from $8 to $9 per hour on July 1. It will go to $10 in January 2016. The San Diego City Council called for a $9.75 hourly minimum wage by January, with raises in 2016 and 2017 — though the council has now put the issue on the June 2016 ballot after business interests challenged the city effort.

Best Buy hires computer-minded people for its “Geek Squad” tech support service, in addition to salespeople for its home theater, mobile and computer departments.

One of Hernandez’s most recent hires is Ali Asaad, a junior at San Diego State University studying political science and international relations. On his first day on the job Nov. 12, Asaad said he has an interest in electronic gadgets and has worked for three other big retailers. He would eventually like to work in the federal government.

Before he dives into the intricacies of federal policy and diplomacy, however, Asaad will have to get through the rest of 2014. That includes Thanksgiving evening and Christmas Eve, on the store floor, in his blue Best Buy shirt.

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