Workforce planning - seasonal hiring for the Christmas bonanza

There is a super great example in The Guardian of the need to take account of seasonal swings in demand in workforce planning….

Like the other major supermarket groups, Sainsbury’s needs to get two things right to maximise the revenue achieved during Christmas trading.

(1) Have the right amount of inventory in place at the right time in each store

(2) Have enough staff in place to handle the rapid stock turnover of the Christmas weeks (e.g. tills & shelf-stacking)

Sainsbury’s is planning to hire a record number of temporary, seasonal staff for Christmas 2009. 20,000 staff are required, of whom it hopes to retain 1,000 as permanent employees as the business contunes to grow.