M&S and Boots launch plans to hire 17,000 temp jobs - as Amazon offers £3,000 signing bonuses

M&S and Boots have become the latest high street giants to launch Christmas recruitment drives - as online rival Amazon offers signing-on bonuses of up to £3,000 to lure workers.

Tens of thousands of seasonal jobs at major brands are now on offer over the festive season.

But recent figures suggest some employers have been struggling to hire with vacancies across the UK in the three months to September at a record 1.1 million.

Marks & Spencer is looking for 12,000 temporary customer assistants to work in stores across the country from early December and said for some there may be opportunities for permanent employment after Christmas.

It said they would be offered a customary range of benefits including 20% discounts.

M&S is also hiring 750 seasonal and permanent roles via recruitment firm Staffline for its warehouses in Milton Keynes and Bradford.

Some other roles advertised at its Castle Donington hub offer signing-on bonuses of £500.

Elsewhere, it has emerged that job ads for Amazon - which in September launched a drive to take on 20,000 seasonal workers - was offering starting bonuses of up to £3,000.

Boots said it was looking for more than 5,500 seasonal workers - 4,000 in stores plus 1,250 at warehouses in Burton-on-Trent and Nottingham and another 300 at the call centre at the retailer's Nottingham HQ.

Other well-known businesses to have announced recruitment drives for the festive period include Domino's - which is looking to take on 8,000 drivers while Britain's biggest supermarket Tesco is seeking 20,000 temporary workers.

Elsewhere, Royal Mail is seeking more than 20,000 roles while Sainsbury's is aiming to hire 22,000, John Lewis Partnership is opening 7,000 roles, and Morrisons is looking for 3,000.