The popularity of online shopping is having an impact on holiday hiring in Canada. Electronics retailers Future Shop and Best Buy Canada say they plan to hire fewer holiday employees this season than last Christmas.

Future Shop says it will hire three-thousand part-time workers and Best Buy will hire about 15-hundred part-time employees, both down slightly from last year.

Both chains have already added about 550 seasonal staff to their e-commerce ranks to meet changing shopping patterns.

Future Shop has 149 stores and Best Buy has 77 in Canada.

Both companies are owned by the American consumer electronics giant Best Buy Company.

(The Canadian Press)