Home Depot, the nation's largest home improvement retailer, is preparing for the usual surge in business this spring.
The Atlanta-based chain said this week that it plans to hire 80,000 seasonal workers, according to USA TODAY. It is roughly the same number they hired in 2012 and 2013.
"Spring is our Christmas," Executive Vice President of Human Resources Tim Crow told Bloomberg. "After a winter like we're having this year, everyone will be excited to get outdoors."
Crow said the seasonal workers will run cash registers, help customers it its garden centers and assist them on the sales floors. They will also be trained to use the retailer's mobile shopping application to help them find items in-store and recommend items that are only available online.
The volume of employees each store hires varies based on demand and the weather of the local market. Some seasonal hires will be asked to remain as permanent employees.
Bloomberg reported Home Depot had almost 2,000 stores while USA TODAY reported it had more than 2,200 and employs about 340,000 people. Whatever number of stores the reported employs is divided amongst, Home Depot plans on continuing to ride the improved housing wave.
The number of new housing construction projects rose 18.3% in 2013 to about 923,400, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. That has translated fairly closely to the company's stock.
As of 9:38 a.m. Wednesday morning, the stock rose to $76.81 per share and it was up 16 percent for the year leading up to yesterday, according to Bloomberg. The S&P 500 was up 20 percent over that same period.
