Holiday Hiring is Already Underway for Seasonal Retail Jobs

The weather may still be hot and humid, but retailers are already shifting their holiday hiring plans for seasonal jobs into high gear.  With the trend growing towards earlier and earlier holiday shopping for consumers, and Christmas sales expected to grow 3.4% this year according to the National Retail Federation, it is definitely not too early for jobseekers to start putting in applications for seasonal retail jobs.  Here are some of the companies that have announced high-volume hiring numbers so far:

Better Pay and Benefits for Seasonal Retail Jobs

There is even more good news for those in need of seasonal work.  Now that unemployment has dropped to 4.9%, the number of seasonal job openings retailers are hiring for seems to be higher than the amount of workers there are to fill them.  According to NBC News, this means higher wages, better benefits, and other awesome perks for workers, such as free lunches, transportation and more flexible hours.  The average wage this year for seasonal workers has climbed to $14 an hour, an increase of over $4 from last year.  Another reason retailers are finding it more difficult to fill seasonal jobs is that due to the shift towards online shopping, more and more of these jobs are warehouse positions, which tend to be harder work in many cases and less desired by some jobseekers.

Warehouse and Transportation Jobs Growing

In their 2016 seasonal hiring outlook, Chicago-based outplacement and career transitioning firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas states that the job sector with the biggest increase in hiring numbers is transportation and warehousing, having added 200,500 workers last year in November and December.  But that doesn’t mean that brick-and-mortar retail stores still don’t have a significant place amidst the holiday shopping craze.  “We continue to move from brick-and-mortar toward click-and-order.  But even in the Internet era of holiday shopping that means that brick-and-mortar fulfillment facilities need seasonal workers,” said John A. Challenger, CEO of the outplacement firm.

Click below for seasonal retail jobs in:

New York, NY

San Francisco, CA

Denver, CO

Philadelphia, PA

Seattle, WA

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Holiday Hiring is Already Underway for Seasonal Retail Jobs
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With the trend growing towards earlier and earlier holiday shopping for consumers, and Christmas sales expected to grow 3.4% this year according to the National Retail Federation, 2016 is expected to be a great year for seasonal retail jobs. With the unemployment rate low, job seekers can expect more job options and better pay.
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Employment Alert
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