Attracting Tomorrow’s Leaders, Today
As a Fortune 100 company, operating more than 4,300 stores in nine countries, the need to attract, develop, and retain top talent is crucial to supporting our growth. We are continually looking for diverse, enthusiastic, and committed individuals to join our team and we remain committed to developing our global leaders for tomorrow.
We take a multi-faceted approach to recruiting as we seek employees with diversity in experience, gender, race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, and more. In addition to our traditional recruitment activities, we also focus our talent acquisition efforts on students, recent university graduates, and military personnel. We are also committed to hiring locally from the communities we serve.
Recruiting for a diverse workplace
To enhance our recruitment efforts for Associates who are members of diverse racial and ethnic groups, we work with universities, attend conferences, leverage social media, and work with several community-based and business networks. In the U.S., we attend college job fairs, including several, such as ALANA, that offer specialized development for members of racially or ethnically diverse groups in higher education. These organizations help us to stay culturally-attuned to our communities. In Europe, we recruit from a diverse pool of candidates from across the region for our U.K. Graduate Programme, and we are proud that the group is multi-cultural, with half of those enrolled coming from outside the U.K.
On-Campus Recruiting: From Their Campus to Ours
Each year, several hundred students take part in internship programs that operate across our divisions worldwide, in areas including Merchandising, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Store Operations, and Distribution Services. We seek candidates who are curious and have a passion for innovation, relationship building, strategic thinking, and global relations.
Our merchandising internships, in particular, are coveted among students, particularly those who have a passion for various aspects of the fashion industry, including fashion, retail, finance, business administration, information technology, and other related disciplines. On average, about 75% of interns from the U.S. merchandising program go on to join us full-time after completing college. In Canada, over 35% of our planning and allocation co-ops transitioned to full-time or contract positions upon graduation. In the U.K., approximately 65% of merchandising and buying placement students went on to join our Graduate Programme following completion of their university degree courses. In 2018, we hired more than 350 Associates into the U.S., Canadian, and European buyer and planning and allocation training programs, many right out of school or through Associate referrals.
Hiring For Stores and Distribution Centers is a Top Priority
With more than 4,300 stores across the globe, our store Associates are our largest population of talent. But more than that, they are the face of our retail chains, welcoming customers and helping to support an exciting shopping experience. Behind the scenes, the Associates in our distribution centers also ensure our stores continue to deliver a treasure hunt experience by helping us get the right products to the right stores at the right time.
In support of our efforts to hire field Associates, teams in the U.S. and Europe participate in innovative youth programs – the Youth Business Institute (YBI) in the U.S. and Get into Retail in Europe – which offer professional and personal development opportunities for disadvantaged or vulnerable young people. YBI, a TJX program, teaches job readiness skills to students in at-risk high schools and exposes them to the business of retail. Get into Retail, run by The Prince’s Trust in the U.K., provides training, development, and eventually, employment opportunities for successful participants. In 2018 we hired over 50% of YBI graduates and more than 70% of Get Into Retail graduates for positions in our stores. Our Canadian team partners with organizations like the Calgary Region Immigrant Employment Council, Canadian Mental Health Association, Steps to Success, and others to support its field recruitment efforts.
Proudly Hiring Those Who Have Served in the U.S. Military
Our long-standing commitment to the U.S. Armed Forces is highlighted by our dedication to hiring members of the military, including active guard and reserve, as well as veterans, and their spouses. We value their strong work ethic, professionalism, and loyalty and offer a range of career options to match their talents and expertise.
In 2013, TJX pledged to hire at least 3,000 men and women who are military, veterans, or their spouses by 2018. We met that goal two years early and are pleased to report that by the end of 2018 we hired more than 7,000 people from these populations.
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Turning Employment Challenges into Opportunities
Over the course of the last 23 years, TJX has been working with people with varying levels of skills and abilities, including those who face barriers to employment. These could include people in situations that make it hard for them to find or keep a job, such as economic challenges, access to transportation, lack of experience, or other personal challenges. We have developed community outreach and recruitment strategies to support those who face employment challenges and to help us foster a workforce that includes qualified individuals with a breadth of abilities.
For example, to assist in our recruitment efforts, we have collaborated with community-based organizations in the U.S. and Canada to work with people who may face employment challenges. These organizations often pre-screen and train the candidates for work in our stores and distribution centers. The relationship between TJX and community-based organizations is beneficial on many levels:
- Individuals gain self-confidence and learn about retail career opportunities
- TJX has the opportunity to work with enthusiastic individuals who have already been recommended by a community-based organization
- TJX benefits from federal, state, and local tax credits and incentive programs
- The community-based organizations expand their outreach efforts and continue to attract government and private funding because of their success
One area of particular focus in the U.S. is hiring people with disabilities. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, in 2017, the unemployment rate for those with a disability was 9.2%, more than twice the rate for individuals with no disability.1 We have developed collaborative community partnerships, and our U.S. Talent Acquisition group promotes workforce programs that facilitate access to jobs for individuals with disabilities.
1Economic News Release at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/disabl.nr0.htm