(Reuters) – Dollar General Corp said on Wednesday it would recruit up to 20,000 employees this spring, the latest company to plan a hiring spree as more parts of the U.S. economy reopen and fiscal stimulus kicks in.

But the number was lower than the more than 50,000 workers the company hired around the same time last year, which was nearly double its normal hiring rate, to support a surge in sales at its stores at the height of COVID-19 lockdowns.

The discount retailer said in a statement on Wednesday that it would host hiring events from this month to fill positions in its stores, distribution centers and corporate offices.

Strengthening domestic demand, the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and additional pandemic aid from the government have boosted companies’ needs for workers, with McDonald’s Corp and Yum Brands’ Taco Bell saying recently that they were looking to hire thousands of workers.

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)