The Home Depot will hire about 225 seasonal employees in the Dayton area and 80,000 across the country as the nation’s largest home-improvement retailer gears up for its peak construction and renovation season, company officials announced Wednesday.

Nationwide, the Atlanta-based company is hiring 80,000 seasonal employees — about 10,000 more than last year — to support anticipated sales growth this spring, Home Depot officials said. The seasonal hiring will average 40 to 50 per store. Home Depot operates stores in Trotwood, Beavercreek, Centerville, Piqua, Lebanon, Springfield, West Chester and Hamilton, according to the company’s website.

Home Depot spokesman Stephen Holmes said that last year, about half of those hired into seasonal positions later moved into permanent positions. “It’s a great foot in the door,” Holmes said in a phone interview.

“We find some of our best associates during our peak season, and many of them have built long, meaningful careers with us,” Tim Crow, Home Depot’s executive vice president of human resources, said in a news release.

Johanna Hill, store manager at The Home Depot’s Trotwood store, said said she is looking to hire more than 40 employees who will work from 15 to 35 hours a week, depending on position. The store currently employs 110. Dan Roth, the Trotwood store’s assistant manager, said the strongest applicants have customer service, retail and/or home improvement experience.

Job seekers can begin applying online now at www.careers.homedepot.com. Technical school and college students, as well as retirees, are encouraged to apply, company officials said.

Lowe’s, a competitor of Home Depot in the home-improvement retail industry, announced in late January that it will hire about 45,000 seasonal employees and 9,000 permanent part-time employees at its U.S. stores this spring. Lowe’s spokeswoman Abby Buford said Wednesday that the number of seasonal positions will vary, but will average about 26 per store. Lowe’s operates 11 stores throughout southwest and west-central Ohio.

A spokesman for Menards home-improvement stores said he was unable to comment on employment numbers.

WHIO-TV Reporter Yuna Lee contributed to this report.