What: El Corte Inglés will hire about 6,350 people for Black Friday and Christmas, mainly in sales, food and catering, logistics and online commerce.

Why it is important: Most of the hiring targets food, logistics and online orders, so El Corte Inglés is staffing peak season around the same service, digital and logistics priorities set out in its strategic plan.

El Corte Inglés will strengthen its workforce ahead of Black Friday and Christmas by adding approximately 6,350 people to the areas expected to see the strongest increase in activity, including sales, food and catering, logistics and online commerce. The retailer says the additional staff will help improve the customer shopping experience and maintain the service and quality associated with the company.

The new hires will join regular operations across departments and also provide special services during November and December, such as gift wrapping and other support functions. To integrate them, El Corte Inglés runs a comprehensive training programme each year so that recruits start in their positions with the knowledge their tasks require.

The company presents the Christmas season as an entry point to its teams, with options suited both to candidates seeking a long-term career and to those looking for temporary, flexible work.

Positions on offer include gift wrappers, sales associates and fashion specialists; butcher, delicatessen, fruit and vegetable, pastry and fishmonger assistants; logistics operators and online order assistants; checkout and customer service staff; cafeteria, restaurant and kitchen staff, apprentices and professional chefs; prepared-foods and Gourmet Club personnel; and merchandise managers for outlet stores.

IADS Notes: El Corte Inglés's 6,350 seasonal hires put it alongside UK peers scaling up for peak trading. Marks & Spencer is recruiting 11,000 festive staff at £13.41 an hour (Drapers, October 2026). John Lewis Partnership is hiring 10,400 seasonal employees across John Lewis, Waitrose and its distribution network, including 1,800 distribution and supply-chain roles, down from a record 13,700 last year (Drapers, September 2026). The emphasis on logistics, online order and customer service roles matches the priorities Cristina Álvarez set out at the July shareholders' meeting, where she named customer service, the physical store, digital growth, AI and logistics as pillars of the group's updated strategic plan (El Corte Inglés press release, July 2026). The many fresh-food, gourmet and restaurant positions also reflect food's role as a traffic driver. At Seoul's leading flagships, food halls are the main entry point for new customers in their 20s and 30s, and 79% of younger first-time visitors to The Modern Food Hall bought other products (Maeil Business Newspaper, October 2026).

El Corte Inglés will hire more than 6,300 workers for Black Friday and Christmas