Home Depot will hire 60,000 for spring push

The Home Depot announced today it will hire more than 60,000 seasonal associates in time for its second annual Spring Black Friday event.

Like the traditional Black Friday that occurs the day after Thanksgiving to unofficially start the holiday shopping season, The Home Depot's Spring Black Friday marks the start of home improvement's busiest shopping season -- the spring. 

Spring Black Friday will be implemented on a market-by-market basis based on climate by geography. During four different weekends in spring, prices on hundreds of spring products will be reduced, including a variety of live goods and lawn care, outdoor power, eco-friendly gardening products, and patio and grills.

"As we have stated in the past, spring is our Christmas and traffic is at its highest during this season," said Craig Menear, executive VP merchandising. "Hiring seasonal associates and offering door busting deals will ensure our customers have all of the service, know-how and value they need as they look to take on outdoor projects to improve the appearance of their home."

Home Depot said it will hire and train new seasonal associates in every market during the months of February and March. The 60,000 part-timers are about the same number that were hired to ramp up for spring in 2010. Additionally, The Home Depot said it will be adding net new permanent full-time and part-time positions to its stores for the second year in a row. 

Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe's is also getting into the spring of things with a mass hiring of part-time workers. According to various press reports, the company will hire 50,000 seasonal positions at its 1,750 stores. That's about 16% more hires than last year's spring ramp up.