Boots has opened recruitment for 6,000 seasonal roles across its 1,800 UK stores, warehouses and customer support centre this Christmas, and around half of its seasonal recruits are typically young people and first-time jobseekers.

The hiring campaign touches nearly every part of the retailer's people operation: candidates of all ages can apply for flexible and part-time positions spanning customer-facing, operational and support functions. For HR teams at competing retailers, the move sets a benchmark for peak-season volume hiring in a tight labour market.

What roles is Boots hiring for?

The 6,000 positions break down into three broad categories:

• Customer advisers and operations assistants in stores
• Warehouse operatives and "picker packers" who fill shelves and process online orders
• Customer support roles handling queries during peak season

Seasonal employees receive a competitive hourly rate, colleague discount and access to benefits including savings on cinema tickets and holidays.

Donna Hodgins, director of talent acquisition at Boots, said: "For many people, the festive season can be the perfect opportunity to gain valuable workplace experience, build confidence and develop skills that will support them throughout their careers."

She added that seasonal roles can serve as a talent pipeline: "These roles provide hands-on experience in customer service, operations and teamwork, and for many people can be the first step on a longer-term career journey with Boots."

That framing matters for workforce planners. With first-time jobseekers making up roughly half of seasonal recruits, Boots is effectively running a large-scale early-careers intake through its Christmas hiring — a model other retailers have used to convert temporary staff into permanent headcount.

How does the acquisition affect the picture?

The recruitment drive comes as Boots' ownership changes. Canada's Weston family, which previously owned London's Selfridges department store, has acquired the pharmacy and beauty retailer for $8.9bn (£6.74bn).

Wittington Investments, the Westons' holding company — which runs the Loblaws grocery chain and Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacies in Canada — will take over Boots' UK and Ireland retail stores, its opticians chain, and the No7 beauty brand.

Galen Weston, chairman of Wittington Investments, said: "We see a meaningful opportunity to make a great business even better through stable long-term ownership, further capital investment, and the renewed operating focus required to serve customers with excellence for generations to come."

For the more than 50,000 people Boots employs from its Nottingham headquarters, the commitment to "further capital investment" signals continuity rather than retrenchment — at least in the near term. Whether the new owners maintain seasonal hiring at this scale, and how many of the 6,000 temporary roles convert into permanent positions under Weston ownership, will be a metric worth tracking into the new year.