In a measure of the bargain-basement economy’s growth, the Dollar General discount chain has announced it will hire 20,000 new full- and part-time workers to staff its stores and distribution centers and drive its truck fleet as the company adds 1,050 stores this year.
The additions will grow its 158,000-person workforce by almost 13 percent.
Like other dollar chains, Dollar General flourished during the economic shutdown as cash-strapped households shopped for bargains in food and home essentials.
Sales at the chain’s stores that had been open for at least one year grew an average of 16.4 percent in 2020 and the company’s profits surged 55 percent.
Dollar General’s long-range plan is to double its current number of stores to about 17,000, it said.
Competitor Dollar Tree also recently announced plans to hire thousands of new workers and add 600 more stores this year to the more than 15,000 it now operates as Dollar Tree and through its Family Dollar subsidiary.
TREND FORECAST: Not only is the trend for the big chains to keep growing bigger and putting small businesses out of business… the jobs they are creating pay minimum wage.
Thus, the middle class will continue to shrink and more of the wealth will be concentrated in the hands of a few.
