Wal-Mart bucks trend of seasonal hires

Shares of Wal-Mart (WMT) are in focus in early trading after the big box retailer announced it will give its current employees the opportunity to work extra hours throughout the holiday season, bucking the trend of retailers hiring many season workers. WHAT'S NEW: Wal-Mart said on Wednesday that it will not hire thousands of seasonal workers for the upcoming critical holiday reason and will instead offer the additional hours to its current associates. "These extra hours will help staff traditional roles like cashier and stocker, and newly created technology-empowered positions such as personal shoppers and Pickup associates," Walmart U.S. Chief Operating Officer Judith McKenna said in a statement. "This is the same approach we took last year, and we heard great feedback from our customers and associates," McKenna added. McKenna also said that Wal-Mart will bring back the Holiday Helper program and will increase the number of Helpers it has in stores this season. The Helpers assist customers get through the stores faster by finding the shortest checkout line, opening registers as needed and grabbing items customers might have forgotten, the retailer noted. WHAT'S NOTABLE: Earlier this month, Target (TGT) said it would hire about 100,000 seasonal workers this year, a material increase from the 70,000 it hired last year prior to the holiday season. Target also said it will add 4,500 jobs at its distribution centers to fulfill online orders and replenish products at its brick and mortar stores throughout the season. Macy's (M) will increase by 20% the number of workers it hires during the holiday season to staff distribution and warehouses that support its online business, Reuters reported last week. The retailer plans to hire 18,000 holiday workers to fulfill online orders, according to the report. At the same time, Macy's total holiday hiring will fall from last year, with the retailer hiring roughly 80,000 seasonal workers, a decline from 83,000 last year. OTHERS TO WATCH: Other retailers are expected to soon announce their plans for seasonal hiring, including Kohl's (KSS) and J.C. Penney (JCP) and Amazon (AMZN). Last year, Amazon said it would hire more than 120,000 seasonal positions across its U.S. network, while J.C. Penney said it would bring on 40,000 seasonal workers. In 2016, Kohl's said it planned to add more than 69,000 seasonal workers. PRICE ACTION: Wal-Mart is fractionally lower in early trading at $80.04.