Dollar General wants to fill 20,000 job openings starting next week
Dollar General wants to fill 20,000 job openings and will be holding in-person and virtual hiring fairs this spring to find new employees, the company said Wednesday.
The Tennessee-based retailer said it has openings at local stores, regional distribution centers, at the corporate level and for truck drivers. At the store level, Dollar General said it needs store managers as well as full and part-time sales associates. For truck driving positions, applicants must already have a commercial driver's license to drive semi-trucks.
A Dollar General spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch that the company is not disclosing the starting wages for these positions. In a statement, the company said it offers "competitive wages and benefits."
Dollar General's chief people officer, Kathy Reardon, said in the statement the company is rapidly growing and is "proud to provide individuals with opportunities to start or advance their careers." The virtual hiring fair will be April 19 to April 23 and the in-person job fairs will be at select stores, although the company didn't disclose which exact locations.
Dollar General employs about 158,000 people and has 17,266 stores. The company saw its annual sales climb 22% to $33.7 billion during the coronavirus pandemic last year.
Hiring gets a spring in its step across U.S.
Dollar General is the latest company this spring to announce it needs thousands of new workers. Taco Bell plans to hire at least 5,000 people in a single day later this month. On-the-spot interviews will take place at nearly 2,000 company and franchise-owned locations across the nation April 21.
The fast food chain is looking for cashiers, general managers and "bellhops" for drive-thru service with tablet ordering. The company offers a starting wage of $9.10 an hour at corporate-owned restaurants, it said.
The openings at Dollar General and Taco Bell add to a nationwide hiring wave seen in the recent months as pandemic restrictions eased and COVID-19 vaccines became more widely available. All told, employers in the U.S. added 916,000 jobs in March, the best month of job gains since August, according to Labor Department data. Leisure and hospitality jobs led the way, adding 280,000 positions, after a year of decimation during the pandemic.
Part of the reason for the surge in job growth: states are lifting restrictions on mass gatherings at eating and drinking establishments, which has led to formerly closed restaurants to reopen and expand their capacity.
"March's jobs report is the most optimistic report since the pandemic began," Glassdoor senior economist Daniel Zhao said in a report. "While the pandemic is not over yet, the finish line appears close, and the economy is surging forward in a last sprint toward a full reopening."