Holiday hiring outlook for retail looks positive

Early signs from retailers indicate a hot job market for workers this holiday season.



Despite store closures and consolidation within the industry, retailers are signaling that there might be high demand for seasonal jobs, according to a forecast from global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.



“The competition among major big-box retailers will incentivize consumers to spend more this holiday season. These stores will need to add staff in order to meet demand,” said John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.



The Challenger forecast comes on the heels of an announcement by Target that it hiring 100,000 seasonal store associates for the holidays, up some 40% from last year.



Last year, seasonal retail employment increased by 641,000 during the final three months of the year, the lowest number since the 495,800 retail hires announced in the final months of 2009. Last year’s job gains were 9.6% lower than the previous year, when retailers added 708,800 jobs, according to employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).



Last year, BLS data showed that transportation and warehousing employment increased by a non-seasonally adjusted 246,700 workers in the final quarter of the year, 8% higher than the 228,400 workers hired in this sector in the final three months of 2015. In 2007, the seasonal job gains for this sector measured just 24,300.



“As holiday shopping habits turn virtual, retailers are responding by hiring more warehouse and transport workers," said Challenger. "While retail hiring has fallen over the last couple years, major announcements indicate workers will still be needed for customer-facing positions, as retailers attempt to give consumers an experience they cannot receive online.”



According to Challenger tracking, retailers have announced over 6,000 store closures and 67,000 job cuts in the first eight months of the year. However, despite these numbers, retailers projected the highest number of hiring announcements for any industry, with over 248,000.



Since 2012, holiday hiring announcements have averaged 604,000 per year, according to Challenger tracking. Some of those announcements are from non-retailers, such as FedEx and UPS. The bulk of those hiring announcements occur in September. In fact, between 2011 and 2016, hiring announcements in September have averaged over 415,000.