- For seasonal work, people are looking for a second income.
- Economists believe that companies are reluctant to hire more workers this year due to inflation and fears of recession.
- ZipRecruiter discovered that warehouse and driver jobs are most in demand.
It’s holiday hiring time with various postings waiting to be filled, from truck and delivery drivers to holiday-specific jobs like gift wrapping, and people are eager to find work. The big retailers might take longer to hire holiday help than in previous years.
A new report from Hiring LabAccording to data, more people are looking for seasonal jobs than last year or 2020. According to the report, “at September 2022, the share in Indeed job searches for seasonal jobs was up 33% from 2021 and 13% over 2022,” though it is still lower than in 2019.
Although holiday work is a popular choice, many economists agree that seasonal employment is not a hot trend this year.
For instance, Macy’s is planning to hire fewer seasonal workers this year compared to last year, as Insider’s Avery Hartmans reported. Target has a similar hiring goal as Last yearIt plans to You can hire up to 100,000 seasonal employees. The US retail sector saw a decline of 1,100 jobs between August and September, according to payroll dataFrom the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“While we typically see a seasonal increase in jobs in the retail industry, as well as in transportation/logistics, if the hiring trends we’re seeing over the last few months — and what we saw last year — are any indication, we won’t see as big an opportunity for seasonal workers this year, even as we get deeper into holiday hiring,” Guy Berger, LinkedIn’s principal economist, said in a statement to Insider.
According to one economist, employers are not feeling the holiday cheer.
Glassdoor chief economist Aaron Terrazas said that US employers have increased their workforce for the holidays by adding between 3.5-4 million jobs in recent years. “The holiday outlook in this year’s challenging macroeconomic climate is less optimistic.”
It isn’t necessarily bad news for holiday job seekers. Cory Stahle, an Indeed economist, and the author of the report, said that the holiday hiring season was “cooler” than last year but still strong. Stahle stated that “there are still many opportunities out there that I’m seeing.”
ZipRecruiter data shared by Insider shows there is a high demand for truck drivers that can help with the busy holiday season. UPS is planning to hire over 100,000 seasonal workers, for example.
Industry-level data from ZipRecruiter also shows seasonal hiring openings from August to mid-October are especially high in travel as well as transportation and storage. However, the US jobs reportThis month’s payroll figures were revealed earlier in September. They showed a decrease in transport and warehousing employment.
Terrazas explained that “the transportation sector has been in a deflationary spiral from midyear” and that logistics firms have begun to cut workers at a time when they are normally hiring aggressively.
You might also find car dealerships changing your hiring plans. Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter said people may not want to purchase expensive gifts such as cars for this holiday. Employment in automobile dealersAccording to BLS data, September saw a drop in inflation. She believes that it is only one type of company. “It’s the big ticket items that are more volatile and more susceptible to changes in sentiment and inflation is kind of hitting those hardest.”
Berger released a statement saying that holiday hiring would continue to decline because of tighter economic conditions and people with less disposable income.
Rising prices may lead people to seek seasonal work, but the economy could also impact workers’ bargaining power.
Pollak stated that the reason why hiring has been slow and cautious is that “there is tremendous uncertainty and that the Fed is saying there will be a decline and the companies don’t want to get caught flatfooted by over-hiring too much and then seeing demand fall due to what’s happening in the wider economy.”
With year-over-year inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index at 8%, some Americans may be handing out their résumés for seasonal work as a result of rising prices.
“If they are facing inflation and rising living costs, it is possible that they will seek seasonal work to increase their household income. Stahle said.
Stahle said that job applicants might also be seeking work due to their familiarity with in-person roles, given the lower number of coronavirus cases in recent years.
Stahle stated that the continued tight labor market and job-seekers in part “being pressed by economic forces” could lead to “that seasonal workers might have maybe a little more bargaining power this season than they did last year. Stahle stated that “the hiring incentives that were available last year may not be as prevalent or as accessible this year.”
Employers are less pressured to hire urgently this year than last year, despite a tight labor market. According to Indeed, 10% of seasonal job postings indicated that they needed to hire during the week ending September 30, 2021. This percentage is approximately 6% in 2022. Stahle suggested that recession fears could be contributing to the less urgent need for incentives and less incentive, Stahle stated. Employers wait to see how the economy performs.
Employers may have trouble getting new workers to join their teams
Pollak pointed out that many people aren’t “particularly desperate” for work. Pollak highlighted that the median unemployed worker is “not particularly desperate for work.” Has spent less time at workThis is because it’s “more difficult to motivate these job seekers to accept offers” than before the pandemic. It’s still one of the most attractive job markets for job seekers.
At the same time, the new report from Indeed shows that because there’s a lot of interest this year in seasonal work, it could be great for businesses looking to staff up this holiday season — although it may not be as ideal for applicants.
Stahle said in her report, “The combination warming job seeker interest with cooling employer demand suggests that workers may have less advantages in the hunt to find seasonal jobs this year.” Employers could benefit from a greater pool of qualified applicants competing for fewer jobs than last year.
In general, US job openingsDespite openings falling from July to August, they are still high. And LayoffsEven with the best of intentions, they remain low CEOs Other workersYou are worried about a recession.
Stahle stated that what is happening in seasonal hiring mirrors the general labor market. “We are seeing employers pulling back on postings but still having those postings be far above what we saw prior to the pandemic.”
Are you a candidate for a holiday job because of economic reasons. Are you having difficulty finding seasonal work? Is inflation affecting your holiday shopping? Send an email to this reporter mhoff@insider.com.
