If you’re hoping to land seasonal work over the fast-approaching winter holiday season, you’d better get going with your job search, and expect greater competition.
Job seeker interest in seasonal work jumped 27% year-over-year at the end of September, and spiked 50% above 2023 levels, according to the monthly labor market update from global job search engine Indeed.
Job seekers and employers are starting to look earlier, said Indeed senior economist Cory Stahle. The seasonal ramp up that used to begin in November among job seekers is now taking place in September and October, he said.
That’s also been the case at Amazon’s operations in the south suburbs. The company has already hired more than 1,300 of the roughly 1,400 seasonal workers it plans this year at its Matteson fulfillment center, said Omar Carbajal, human resources manager at the site. The company expects to fully wrap up hiring for the Matteson facility in the next couple of weeks, said Karthik Bagavathi Pandian, general manager.
He said hiring will exceed last year’s number without specifying by how many. Nationally, Amazon has announced plans to hire 250,000 full-time, part-time and seasonal workers, in line with what it announced last season.
Indeed notes that amid the increase in demand for seasonal work by job seekers across the country, the number of jobs available by employers falls far short. Postings for seasonal work rose from a year ago, but only by a modest 2.7%, and only 2.1% of seasonal job postings said they were urgently hiring. That is down from 10% at the onset of the post-pandemic boom in late 2021, according to the Indeed report.
“I think we’re definitely expecting it to be more competitive, certainly than last year and a lot more competitive than what we saw in 2020, 2021,” said Cory Stahle.
“We’re still in a place where inflation growth has slowed down, but it doesn’t mean that the prices of things have come down,” he said. “Groceries are still more expensive than they were a couple of years ago, the cost of living is still higher. For some workers that might mean they need to take on an extra job to buy Christmas presents this year or buy groceries.”
Meanwhile, the hiring environment today is similar to what it was in 2013 when the labor market was still recovering from 2008/2009 recession — on an upward trajectory, but still pretty low historically from a hiring perspective, Stahle said. Employers by and large are making do with existing staff.
“Seasonal employers are facing a confluence of factors this year,” Andrew Challenger, workplace expert and senior vice president of Chicago-based Challenger, Gray & Christmas, stated in the firm’s annual holiday hiring forecast. “Tariffs loom, inflationary pressures linger, and many companies continue to rely on automation and permanent staff instead of large waves of seasonal hires.”
Challenger expects seasonal retail hiring this year to fall to its lowest point in 16 years. Retailers, who account for a large share of holiday hires, added 543,100 jobs in the final quarter of 2024, down nearly 4% from 2023, as companies waited until late in the season to boost staff, according to Challenger. He projects retailers may add fewer than 500,000 jobs in the last three months of 2025, which would mark the smallest seasonal gain since 2009.
The National Retail Federation will release its annual retail hiring forecast in November. For the 2024 season, it projected retailers would hire between 400,000 and 500,000 seasonal workers compared with 509,000 seasonal hires the prior year.
“While retailers are being cautious about hiring, their commitment to providing the best possible experience for consumers remains a preeminent consideration, and that is likely to result in a more normal holiday ramp-up,” the federation said in an email statement last week.
Challenger, which tracks national holiday hiring announcements, noted Bath & Body Works announced plans to hire 32,000 workers this holiday season, including 2,000 workers in distribution centers. Kohl’s, Macy’s and Target announced they are hiring seasonal workers but did not say how many. Target said in preparation for the season it is also offering additional hours to current staff and tapping into its on-demand team — a flexible group of about 43,000 store staff who pick up shifts that work for their schedules.
Challenger expects seasonal hiring in transportation and warehousing to underperform this year. Last year, employers in the sector added 303,700 positions in the fourth quarter, down 2% from 2023, and the lowest fourth quarter total since 2019, according to Challenger. Employers continue to lean on automation, flexible scheduling, and year-round staff to help meet fluctuating demand, he noted.
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The latest Chicago metropolitan area jobs report from the Illinois Department of Employment Security shows the retail sector lost 6,500 jobs in August from a year earlier, and transportation, warehousing and utility employers added only 300 jobs.
For job seekers who’ve had difficulty finding full-time and part-time work, a seasonal job may be an effective way to get a foot in the door, Stahle said. He advises job seekers to avoid waiting until closer to Black Friday to start looking.
“Start now,” he said, adding whether the job market is good or bad, you should always be prepared with an updated resume and cover letter.
While opportunities exist in retail, job seekers should also think outside the retail box, Stahle said. For individuals with sales experience, opportunities exist in and outside of retail stores, so expand your search, and for those with accounting backgrounds, some employers will be looking during the quarter to gear up staff in preparation for tax season next year, he said. Seasonal jobs are also available at restaurants and seasonal entertainment venues.
Whatever the position, Stahle said to make sure you differentiate yourself and highlighting your top, relevant skills.
Francine Knowles at [email protected] is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown.