Asda has announced it is recruiting an additional 10,000 colleagues in time for Christmas and New Year to complement its existing 10,000 strong seasonal squad. With the nation already thinking about Christmas shopping in order to spread the cost, Asda is bringing in the extra colleagues to meet customer demand.

The seasonal squad are colleagues who are contracted to work at the busiest periods of the year, such as Easter, summer and Christmas and New Year. These seasonal roles not only give colleagues flexibility, but the security of a Christmas job year in, year out plus a number of Asda colleague benefits including discounted shopping.

The announcement comes on top of a commitment to create 7,000 new jobs by the end of the year. This was in addition to working with Local Employment Partnerships to get another 2,500 Britons back to work.

Andy Clarke, Asda’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “Our seasonal jobs are ideal for students and those looking for part-time work over the festive period. It’s the busiest time of the year for Asda, and we’re expecting this to be our biggest Christmas ever as we are offering more low prices than any other supermarket.

“In a survey we found that nearly half of our shoppers were already thinking about Christmas shopping and we’re looking for more seasonal colleagues than ever before.”

Over the past 18 months Asda has introduced a number of initiatives targeting young people across Britain in a bid to get them back to work. 70% of the existing seasonal squad are colleagues aged between 16 and 25 and Asda is hoping that the flexible seasonal working hours will attract more young colleagues.

Anyone wishing to apply for a role should contact their local store for an application form.