Sangamon Sun

The 2024 holiday season is expected to present challenges for those seeking seasonal retail jobs. According to a Challenger, Gray & Christmas analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data, U.S. retailers are projected to hire only 520,000 new workers this quarter, marking a 7.8% decrease from the previous year.

This decline in seasonal job offerings highlights a broader trend in Q4 hiring across the U.S. The anticipated total of 520,000 seasonal hires for 2024 would be the second-lowest since 2009 and marks the third consecutive year with figures below 600,000.

The report attributes the restrained hiring pace by retailers to several factors, including more selective consumer spending. After years of high inflation and interest rates, many Americans have depleted their savings and are focusing on essential purchases. Morning Consult reports that U.S. adults reduced discretionary spending by over 15% from July 2023 to July 2024 when accounting for inflation. Holiday spending is expected to rise just three percent from last year, representing the slowest increase since 2018. With inflation predicted at around 2.5% by year's end, real volume holiday sales may see only a half-percent increase from the previous season.

Rising labor costs also contribute to big-box retailers potentially reducing their holiday hiring this year. While searches for seasonal jobs have increased significantly since last year, higher wages and employee benefit costs have led some businesses to reconsider staff sizes and focus on areas like automation and reskilling existing workers. Although these strategies can help manage fewer employees' impacts, retailers with limited staff may struggle with stocking shelves, managing checkout lines efficiently, and providing customer assistance during shopping experiences—factors that could limit sales.

As in-person holiday shopping becomes more cumbersome for consumers, many Americans are turning to online shopping towards year's end. In 2024, e-commerce sales during the holidays are expected to reach $240 billion—a growth of 8.4% from last year. While traditional retail positions might be less available this season due to these trends toward online shopping surges offer numerous opportunities for seasonal work elsewhere—particularly within delivery sectors.

Amazon recently announced plans to hire 250,000 workers ahead of this year's holidays—the same number as last year—and courier services like UPS aim at expanding their workforce by offering up about twenty-five percent more seasonal roles than they did back in '23'. These targets reflect shifts among both consumers’ habits alongside business practices regarding shopping methods which should encourage those seeking temporary employment now or later down-the-line consider transportation/customer fulfillment-related fields instead going forward into future seasons too!