With retailers starting their seasonal hiring in anticipation of the holidays, surveys show that while employers are generally planning on hiring the same number of workers as last year, competition for seasonal retail jobs is heating up.
Aon Consulting surveyed more than 100 of the nation’s retailers and found that 44% are hiring fewer holiday workers this year than they did last year, while 37% are hiring the same amount of workers as they did during the 2008 holiday season. Conversely, 19% plan to hire more workers for the holidays this year than they did last year.
“While the economy is showing some signs of recovery, key indicators such as the unemployment rate, give retailers good reason to proceed with caution,” says Bob Lopes, executive vice president with Aon.
A CareerBuilder survey of over 2,900 hiring managers across all industries nationwide, meanwhile, reveals 18% of employers plan to hire seasonal workers to meet business needs associated with the holidays. In addition to unemployed workers pursuing seasonal employment, 12% of those already employed plan to take on a seasonal job to help make ends meet.
“Competition for seasonal positions will be intense as the job market is flooded with qualified candidates vying for a smaller number of open positions,” says Brent Rasmussen, president of CareerBuilder North America.
The Aon survey shows the most important qualities retailers are looking for in candidates this holiday season include customer service skills (83%), a positive attitude (60%) and availability (55%).
Seasonal positions may prove to be the break job seekers are looking for as 31% of hiring managers surveyed by CareerBuilder indicate they are likely to hire a seasonal worker for a full time position.
The Aon survey indicates that 43% of retailers are planning to convert the same number of part time seasonal employees to full time status after the holidays as they did last year, while 42% say they will move fewer part time seasonal workers to full time status after the 2009 holiday season.
