Tesco has announced that it is recruiting 26,000 people to help its customers during the busy festive season.

Roles are available in stores across the UK and duties will involve picking for online deliveries, store replenishment and supporting other employees.

The retailer said a variety of different shift patterns are available to suit different needs and lifestyles.

As well as recruiting colleagues through its usual channels, Tesco added it is also offering interviews for festive roles to anyone who attends one of its career clinics taking place across the UK in November.

These are designed to support anyone not currently working overcome some of the biggest barriers to employment, including lack of skills, confidence and support around recruitment.

Once the seasonal period comes to an end, Tesco said seasonal employees will be encouraged to apply for any permanent roles available in Tesco stores.

“We’re looking for people who enjoy working as part of a team and are prepared to go that extra mile in order to help our customers,” said Alexandra Brown, group people services director at Tesco. “Our festive roles are a great way to be part of the Tesco team, day or night from checkouts to picking orders for home delivery or replenishing the store, meeting great people, learning new skills and being part of a diverse team where everyone’s welcome.”

Several other UK supermarkets have recently announced the launch of their recruitment drives for the Christmas period, with Marks and Spencer revealing earlier this month that it is looking for 11,000 people to work in its stores across the country.

Earlier this month, Sainsbury’s shared the news that it will employ 20,000 extra workers over the Christmas period across its supermarkets and Argos stores, while Morrisons will recruit 3,000 people for the festive season.

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