Canada's largest electronics retailer, Future Shop, plans to hire 5,000 sales staff in the Christmas lead-up, an indication they hope consumers will spend big despite frugal times.

Future Shop's hiring blitz begins nationally this week to allow the company enough time to recruit and properly train, according to a media release.

The Retail Council of Canada said it may be counter-intuitive that businesses expect to get a boost this holiday season.

"Typically, going into that busy season, shops are doing additional hiring," said Mark Beazley, director of communications for the retail council. "Last Christmas season, even in the tough economy, there were still a lot of retailers hiring."

In fact, some retailers reported a labour shortage, partly because people don't want to work in retail, Beazley said.

Future Shop plans to use social media channels like Facebook, Linked In and Twitter to reach out and recruit people who might not normally consider a job in retail.

"It's critical that we plan accordingly to staff our stores," Chris Taylor, vice-president of human resources, said in a statement. "Our hiring blitz, combined with our knowledgeable product experts, is designed to make holiday shopping as easy as possible for customers."

The electronics retailer predicts hot products will likely be HDTVs, next-generation iPods and netbooks.

Other retailers are also getting a jump on the Christmas season by trotting out holiday displays even earlier than past years, and by announcing price cuts.

Wal-Mart Canada announced last month it would cut prices on certain toys every week until Christmas, starting at the end of September.