After a sunny start to October saw high street shops suffer more sales falls, department store Debenhams has partly lifted the gloom by announcing that it will take on 6,500 extra workers for the Christmas and January sales rush.
And the company is also offering a lifeline to many unemployed people, by saying that about a quarter of the staff who land one of the temporary positions will be offered a permanent job once the festive peak subsides.
The company's CEO, Michael Sharp, said: "These jobs are sure to be welcomed by local economies during the most financially challenging part of the year."
Not all of the jobs will be open to general applicants, however, as the company is expecting to invite back 2,000 people who worked for it over last Christmas and New Year.
Reporting the news, Retailgazette.co.uk said: "Retail is the biggest private sector employer in the UK with around three million people working in the industry, and with the overall national unemployment figure now hovering around eight per cent, with youth joblessness particularly high, any new vacancies are a boost to the economy."
Employment minister Chris Grayling welcomed the potential contribution towards easing youth unemployment, and said the vacancies presented ideal opportunities for young people to gain retail experience.
