Shares of Macy’s Inc. dropped 2.5% in midday trading Monday toward an 18-month low, after the department store chain announced plans to hire more than 41,000 seasonal employees before the holidays, down 46% from the previous year’s hiring plans. The full- and part-time seasonal hires will be for Macy’s namesake stores, as well as for stores under the Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury banners, and for the company’s supply chain locations and call centers. Last year, the company had said it planned to hire 76,000 seasonal employees, with 48,000 for the holiday season and the rest for permanent opportunities on a part- and full-time basis “for the holidays and beyond.” For this year, the company is planning a holiday hiring event for Oct. 6. The stock, which was on track for the lowest close since March 2021, has sunk 26.9% over the past three months while the SPDR S&P Retail ETF has declined 10.1% and the S&P 500 has lost 6.1%.
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