John Lewis to hire over 2,000 temps over Christmas

With less 100 shopping days to go until Christmas Day, applications are open for roles at John Lewis shops across the country. Positions are available in departments including the Christmas shop, furnishing accessories, homeware, fashion and electricals.

The retailer is also on the hunt for a number of temporary Partners to work in its distribution centres, where it expects to process over 80,000 orders each day in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

The 24 sites, including John Lewis’s 650,000 sq ft flagship Magna Park warehouse in Milton Keynes, process orders for both its online business and its 39 shops.

Temporary positions are also available at its customer call centres.

John Lewis personnel director Laura Whyte said: “Christmas is an extremely important and busy time of the year for the business and it is essential that we have a strong and committed workforce in place early.

“We’re not only looking for people who can provide excellent levels of customer service in our shops and call centres, but also for individuals who understand the important role that our distribution centres play in making sure the Christmas shopping experience is as smooth as possible for customers.”

John Lewis operations director, Dino Rocos, who originally joined the business as a Christmas temp over 30 years ago, said: “After finishing school I was looking for a job to earn money so I could travel the world and successfully applied for a sales assistant role at the Peter Jones shop over the festive period.

“However, I really enjoyed the experience and when a permanent position became available I decided retail was a career I wanted to pursue. Over the years I’ve had fantastic support from the business, and via John Lewis’s training initiatives, in developing my skills which has enabled me to move up the career ladder. When I started as a Christmas temp I would never have believed that 30 years down the line I would be on the John Lewis management board and be responsible for the distribution and merchandising functions of the entire business.”