Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
John Lewis is to recruit more than 3,500 temporary staff to fill roles across the retail and distribution arms of its business, ahead of the busiest shopping period of the year.
The chain is recruiting for roles across departments including the John Lewis Christmas Shop, electrical and home technology, gift food and catering, as well as behind-the-scenes stock management roles.
In addition to branch roles, the retailer also has vacancies across its distribution and contact centres networks to support branches and johnlewis.com.
Charlotte Veillet, resourcing manager at John Lewis said: “Temporary Partners [staff] help to make Christmas at John Lewis! We’re looking for bright, happy and hardworking individuals to add the Christmas sparkle to our customers’ shopping experience.
“From expertly gift-wrapping the perfect present, to ensuring stock levels are as good as they can be or supporting our behind-the-scenes operations at one of our distribution or contact centres, we’re excited to welcome new team members to create an unbeatable Christmas shopping experience for our customers.”
Dino Rocos, operations director at John Lewis, is an example of how far a temporary Christmas role can take you. Having joined the business in 1976 as a Christmas temp, Dino now sits on the business’ management board and heads up its entire logistics operation.
He said: ‘I certainly didn’t think when I joined John Lewis as a Christmas temp that I would still be here 40 years later as a board director.
“The business provided me with the support to help develop my skills and knowledge from the very beginning and it quickly became clear to me that I was developing a fascination for retail. So accepting an offer for a permanent job at the end of my contract was an easy decision.
“As time progressed I began to understand more about the organisation and its focus on fairness – this was something that was very attractive to me, and something that I’ve carried forward into my leadership style in my current role.
“A temporary Christmas role was the ideal foot in the door for me and I’d urge anyone with an interest in retail to consider applying this year.’
Those interested should visit www.jlpjobs.com, where batches of vacancies will be advertised between now and September.
John Lewis operates 46 John Lewis shops across the UK (32 department stores, 12 John Lewis at home and shops at St Pancras International and Heathrow Terminal 2) as well as johnlewis.com.
Prosecc-hoho beanie hat from John Lewis
