The coronavirus pandemic dealt a serious blow to a wide swath of the retail industry, shutting down stores deemed non-essential and driving down consumer demand for discretionary products. But some other retailers are doing better than ever, and are even looking to hire more workers to keep up with growing demand.
Job opening data compiled by LinkedIn shows that retailers — of both the e-commerce and brick-and-mortar variety — dominate the top of the list of companies with the most job openings right now. The top hirer at the moment, by a long shot, is online grocery deliverer Instacart, which is looking to hire roughly 300,000 workers. Amazon came in second, looking to hire 100,000.
Company’s hiring during the coronavirus
| Company | # of Workers Sought | Sector |
|---|---|---|
| Instacart | 300,000 | e-Commerce |
| Amazon | 100,000 | e-Commerce |
| CVS Health | 50,000 | Brick & Mortar |
| Dollar General | 50,000 | Brick & Mortar |
| Walmart | 50,000 | Brick & Mortar |
| Ace Hardware | 30,000 | Brick & Mortar |
| Pizza Hut | 30,000 | Restaurant |
| Lowe's | 30,000 | Brick & Mortar |
| Dollar Tree | 25,000 | Brick & Mortar |
| Walgreens | 25,000 | Brick & Mortar |
| Papa John's | 20,000 | Restaurant |
| 7-Eleven | 20,000 | Brick & Mortar |
| Kroger | 20,000 | Brick & Mortar |
| TTEC | 10,000 | Outsourcing |
| Chewy | 10,000 | e-Commerce |
| Domino's | 10,000 | Restaurant |
| Target | 10,000 | Brick & Mortar |
| Allied Universal | 10,000 | Facility services |
| PepsiCo | 6,000 | Food & Beverage |
| Tractor Supply Company | 5,000 | Brick & Mortar |
| Rite Aid | 5,000 | Brick & Mortar |
| Big Lots | 5,000 | Brick & Mortar |
SOURCE: LinkedIn
After those two e-commerce firms is a long list of more traditional retailers with brick-and-mortar stores — many of which are seeking additional staff not only for the stores themselves, but for logistics and other roles. All the retailers that are hiring offer services that are more indispensable, such as groceries, medicine, hardware — and pizza, apparently. (A third e-commerce firm, online pet food retailer Chewy, is also hiring amid a surge in demand.)
The list also includes a smattering of firms from other industries, such as business process outsourcing company TTEC and facility services company Allied Universal. And food-and-beverage behemoth PepsiCo — which in addition to the eponymous soft drink brand also owns brands like Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Quaker and Tropicana — is hiring another 6,000 “frontline” workers for its factories and delivery services, as well as to stock shelves across the country.
