John Lewis launches biggest-ever Christmas recruitment drive
What: John Lewis Partnership launches its largest-ever Christmas recruitment drive, hiring over 13,000 seasonal staff across stores and distribution centres to support peak trading.
Why it is important: This initiative reflects how leading retailers are leveraging flexible staffing, leadership transformation, and omnichannel investment to drive operational excellence and customer experience during critical trading periods.
John Lewis Partnership is embarking on its biggest seasonal recruitment campaign to date, aiming to hire 13,700 temporary staff for the golden quarter, including 11,500 in customer-facing roles and 2,200 in distribution and supply chain positions. This surge in hiring is designed to ensure exceptional service and operational efficiency during the crucial Christmas and Black Friday periods, when the retailer expects to welcome 30 million in-store visitors and handle 180 million website visits. The recruitment drive is part of a broader turnaround strategy led by chair Jason Tarry, which includes leadership changes, a renewed focus on core retail operations, and significant investment in both physical and digital infrastructure. By modernising its distribution centres and enhancing omnichannel capabilities, John Lewis is positioning itself to meet the demands of peak trading while maintaining its commitment to customer service and its “Never Knowingly Undersold” promise. This approach highlights the retailer’s adaptability and commitment to operational excellence in a highly competitive market.
IADS Notes: John Lewis’s record seasonal hiring mirrors a wider industry trend, with El Corte Inglés and others also expanding flexible holiday staffing to support both sales and logistics (October, November 2024). The recruitment drive is closely tied to the Partnership’s turnaround, including leadership restructuring under Jason Tarry and the streamlining of staff committees to boost profitability and agility (October 2024, June 2025). Major investments in logistics and store renovations—GBP 400 million and GBP 800 million respectively—have strengthened John Lewis’s omnichannel capabilities, ensuring robust support for peak trading and enhancing the customer experience (October, November 2024).
