With the unemployment rate suck at 9.1% and 6.2 million Americans out of work for at least 27 weeks, many job seekers are turning to that staple of seasonal employment, the Christmas holiday job. Though retailers are hoping for a robust buying season this year, some employers are exercising caution in their holiday hiring.
“This year it’s a mixed picture,” says John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the Chicago-based outplacement firm that tracks job-cut and hiring announcements. “Last year’s seasonal retail employment was up 27% from the year before,” he says. “This year cautiousness is the watch word for many retailers.”
Example: Best Buy. Last year it hired 29,000 seasonal workers in its retail stores. This year, it’s scaling that down to 15,000, covering any slack by giving its permanent workers more hours.
In Pictures: How To Get A Holiday Job
A recent survey by management consultants the Hay Group underlines the trend. After taking a poll of 21 major retailers, including Macy’s, Pier 1 Imports and DSW, the survey found that 67% were planning to hire at the same level as last year, while 24% said they would bring on fewer seasonal workers. Nevertheless, 19% said they were planning to make more holiday hires this year than last.
I checked in with four employers and found that while some may be cutting back, there is still plenty of hiring going on. The best news: all the employers say that holiday jobs can lead to full-time, permanent positions for motivated, punctual, enthusiastic workers .
Best Buy may not be hiring at last year’s level, but it is definitely bringing on holiday workers right now, with a plan to finish hiring its seasonal workforce by Thanksgiving. In addition, says spokesperson Kelly Groehler, the company is looking to hire 200 permanent employees for its corporate information technology team. Best Buy doesn’t disclose compensation levels but Groehler says the holiday jobs pay above minimum wage, even for retail workers on the floor. Best Buy is also beefing up its seasonal “geek squad,” which offers tech support online and over the phone. Groehler says it’s not a bad idea to approach a store manager in person and express interest in a job, but all applications must go through Best Buy’s online system.
Among the retailers hiring more workers this year than last: Macy’s, which plans to bring on 78,000 seasonal employees, 4% more than in 2010. Spokesman Jim Sluzewski says Macy’s is predicting fourth quarter sales will climb 4%-4.5%, boosting the need for holiday help. The bulk of the holiday hires will work in the company’s 850 retail stores. Sluzewski says Macy’s is also hiring extra loading dock crews, distribution center workers, and seasonal employees to staff its call centers in Mason, Ohio outside Cincinnati, in Clearwater, Fla., in St. Louis and in Tempe, Az. As at BestBuy, Sluzewski says applications are screened through the company site. One tip: applicants who can be flexible about hours have a better shot at a job. “In many cases we need people to work on evenings, weekends and in some jobs, it’s overnight shifts,” says Sluzewski. “One of the first qualifying screens is whether you’re able to work when we need you to work for the position you’re interested in.” Macy’s does convert some holiday positions to full-time work in January.
Like Macy’s, J.C. Penney is boosting its holiday hiring this season, bringing on a total of 37,000 additional workers, as opposed to 30,000 in 2010. The positions range from customer service representative to cashier to sales floor staff. Penney’s is also optimistic about the holiday shopping season and spokesman Tim Lyons says the priority is to make sure that its 1,100 stores have sufficient staff on peak weekends and times of day when the stores are most heavily trafficked. Applicants can apply through the company site, or through job kiosks in the stores. Lyons says Penney’s offers training for applicants who have no previous retail experience, and that some seasonal jobs do turn into full-time positions.
Finally, United Parcel Service, the Atlanta-based package delivery giant, is expecting to hire tens of thousands of holiday workers through the end of December. UPS spokeswoman Karen Cole says the company doesn't yet have a holiday head count, but last year, it brought on 50,000 extra workers. The jobs pay $8 to $20 an hour, says Cole. Many of the positions are what UPS calls "driver helper," a worker who rides along in the brown delivery truck and helps unload and deliver packages. Cole says holiday jobs often lead to full-time employment at UPS. "Treat the seasonal position as an audition," she says. In fact the company’s chief financial officer, Kurt Kuehn, started at UPS in 1977 as a part-time driver. Cole says UPS looks for enthusiastic applicants who demonstrate that they are reliable and punctual. "It's critical that you be on time," she says. One new feature UPS has started this year: a UPS jobs Facebook sweepstakes page, where would-be employees can enter a contest to win Zappos gift cards, as they click through to the UPS job application site.
Outside big companies like UPS and Macy’s, John Challenger recommends that holiday job seekers reflect on their past experiences and enthusiasms and apply those to potential seasonal work. A wine hobbyist might check to see whether the local wine shop needs an extra clerk to handle holiday traffic, for instance. If you’ve done seasonal work before, return to the same employer and offer your services. Or if you patronize a local store and know its merchandise and layout well, offer your services for the holidays and emphasize your familiarity with the inventory. “Don’t wait,” advises Challenger. “A lot of the hiring is going on right now for the core holiday workforce.”
