John Lewis Partnership to recruit extra 7,000 temporary staff this Christmas

The John Lewis Partnership is recruiting more than 7,000 temporary staff across the country for the busy festive period – over 2,000 more than last year.

The temporary roles will include sales and merchandising positions in 34 John Lewis stores, as well as various roles across 331 Waitrose supermarkets and delivery drivers for its online grocery shopping service.

In addition, the retailer is recruiting more than 550 permanent full-time drivers and warehouse workers for its John Lewis and Waitrose distribution and customer delivery centres.

As an incentive to attract the new staff, free food and drink will be available to John Lewis partners and temporary workers from 4 October to 31 December.

Nikki Humphry, People Director at the John Lewis Partnership, said: “We know that, as the first Christmas after lockdown, customers will want to make it really special and we're throwing everything we can into helping them celebrate - our festive team will have a crucial role to play.

“We’re looking for people who can deliver extraordinary service to help customers get what they need to celebrate. We look forward to welcoming people into our team across the country.”

Jobs will start to be advertised in phases on the John Lewis website, as well as on the Indeed recruitment website, from 16 September through October. A variety of working hours will be available.

John Lewis is also creating new Christmas emporiums for its stores which aim to offer a “one-stop Christmas shop for a fun and inspirational experience”, including in-store events and workshops.