The Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) might not be getting a pop in the stock from this, but the company plans to add some 60,000 seasonal employees for its second annual “Spring Black Friday” event. Spring for home improvement companies is a lot like Christmas is for apparel makers.

For its part, Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) plans to hire some 8,000 to 10,000 weekend workers to help it bolster its stores when t
hey are the busiest.

Home Depo will hire and train the new employees during this month and into March and will start to hire new permanent full-time positions and permanent part-time positions for the second year in a row.

At $25.58, Lowe’s has a market cap of $35.3 billion and a 52-week trading range of $19.35 to $28.54.  At $37.69, Home Depot has a market cap of $61.7 billion and a 52-week trading range of $26.62 to $38.12.

Critics will say that this is not enough hiring.  The reality is that this could just be a part of The New Normal in employment.  Companies may just want to stay lean and understaffed during quiet times and bring in part-time or seasonal floaters for a few months at a time.  If this becomes a trend, those workers at all the pop-up stores that spring up before Christmas could know where to go right after they get dumped in January.

This is not the greatest employment news, but it is a start.

JON C. OGG