The John Lewis Partnership (JLP) is recruiting a record 12,500 temporary roles across the country - 4,100 more jobs compared to last year - as customer numbers hit record levels and it doubles down on its commitment to customer experience.
The roles, comprising those in Waitrose and John Lewis shops as well as its distribution network, will provide support during the Partnership's 'golden quarter' - with the build up to Black Friday and Christmas, as well as January's John Lewis Winter Sale, marking its biggest trading period of the year.
Waitrose will start recruiting for 7,700 seasonal roles across more than 300 shops in the coming weeks, including supermarket assistants, night shift workers and customer delivery drivers. Recruitment for 2,000 temporary roles for its 34 John Lewis stores is already underway and such has been the level of interest only a small number of vacancies remain.
In addition, the Partnership is now recruiting 2,800 roles in its supply chain through the recruitment agencies it works with, including warehouse workers and drivers to support the expected increase in Waitrose.com and John Lewis.com orders.
JLP has made significant investment in its processes and technology to ensure more Partners are there for customers when they need them - headsets alone have freed up around 500k Partner hours across John Lewis stores this year.
Both Waitrose and John Lewis attracted record customer numbers in the first half of the year with customer satisfaction scores also improving. John Lewis ranked in the top three companies for customer service in the UK in the most recent UK Customer Satisfaction Index and Waitrose jumped from 71st to 4th, ranking number one for a food retailer.
Excitement is already building amongst customers with volumes of the Waitrose Christmas range, which comprises more than 550 products including 175 new products for 2024, up 25 per cent compared to last year and sales of decorations at the ever-popular John Lewis Christmas Shop already up 20%.
Charlotte Lock, Customer Director at the John Lewis Partnership, says, 'We know customers value the independent, trusted advice they get from our Partners and that friendly, personal touch. Our Partners have always been at the heart of what sets us apart - we're thrilled by the interest the roles have already received and that people want to be part of the excitement that surrounds our two brands at Christmas.'
More information:
John Lewis
www.johnlewis.com