The Great Hiring Binge Moves to Home Depot (HD, LOW)

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 they 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