Home Depot announced Wednesday it has begun hiring 80 thousand seasonal workers, more than 4 thousand of them in Georgia. One expert says this could be a harbinger of a stronger economy.

Home Depot spokesman Stephen Holmes says they are planning to hire ten thousand more seasonal workers than last year to handle the spring sales.

He says “Spring for us is our Christmas. A lot of people think of traditional retailers and how they do seasonal hiring in the fall and the winter. For us, it’s spring when the weather gets warm and our sales go up.”

Holmes says those interested can apply online. And he says they also have a military career site for veterans.

“They can actually put in their rank, they can put in their experience, all of those things they did in the military. And then that’s going to come back with a translation of here are some jobs that might be good for you, that might fit those skills that you had in the military. Takes the guesswork out of it for them.”he says.

Seasonal jobs typically last about 120 days. But Holmes says Home Depot keeps about half of those workers on permanently.

John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray and Christmas outplacement consulting, says there is a real sense that the economy is beginning to get stronger.
“Especially because the housing crisis seems to be over. That’s really the bedrock that seems to suggest consumers have come out of that period where all they really could do was pay off debt.”he says.

Challenger says the federal government also announced major revisions to job creation numbers. “They raised job creation in November from 161 thousand to 247 thousand, a major jump. And they raised December from 155 thousand to 196 thousand.” he says.

Home improvement chain Lowe’s plans to hire 45 thousand seasonal workers nationwide this spring. The company will also add 9 thousand permanent part-time employees.

Tags: Home Depot, hiring, seasonal workers, Lowe's