Stop And Shop Adding 5,000 Workers To Meet Coronavirus Demand

DANVERS, MA — Stop and Shop plans to add 5,000 part-time workers in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island to help meet ongoing demand from shoppers stocking up during the coronavirus pandemic.

Stop and Shop gave employees a 10 percent raise earlier this week for its current workers, who are seeing unprecedented demand. Grocery store sales were 57 percent higher last week than during the same week a year ago. With more Americans following stay-at-home advisories or orders, shoppers have continued to hoard supplies at the same time people who normally eat out are forced to prepare meals at home.

The company said Thursday the new jobs will be permanent, and comes on the day the federal government released a record-shattering jobless claims report. In Massachusetts, nearly 148,000 people filed for unemployment last week.

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Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).