Time for Winter Seasonal Jobs 2018: Early Bird Projections

With consumer spending on the up and up and a tight labor market, it’s a good time to look for work in retail.  And retailers have started hiring for winter seasonal  jobs already, in an effort to compete for the best talent.  In the current job market there are currently more job openings that unemployed people.  So, the earlier retailers can nab top talent and train them to deliver the best customer experience this holiday season, the more sales they are likely to have.  Here are some details on current seasonal retail job openings:

Companies Already Looking to Fill Winter Seasonal Retail Job Openings

Kohl’s is looking to fill openings for winter seasonal jobs in more than 300 of its 1,100 job locations.  Later on in the season they will have more job openings in their distribution and fulfillment centers.  According to Fox Business, Kohl’s is offering a 15% employee discount to seasonal workers, competitive wages and also increased hours to current staff.

JC Penney is currently looking to fill 18,000 winter seasonal retail job openings.  They are putting an emphasis on getting these workers trained early.  To attract job seekers, they are offering a 25% employee discount and flexible scheduling.

Brick and mortar retail has certainly had its ups and downs lately with the dawn of Amazon and online shopping tearing customers away.   We lost Toys R’ US this year and other retailers had to cut down their amount of locations.  But as retailers begin their hiring for winter seasonal jobs, they have another reason to be hopeful:

The Booming Economy Has Given Retail a Boost

Retail stocks are way up with a booming economy that has resulted in an increase in consumer spending.  In June 2018 retail sales reached $506.78 billion, which is an increase of 6.6% from June 2017.  Both retail and food services sales numbers exceeded expectations and much of it can be contributed to more people working and therefore spending money on things like new clothes, eating out and spending money on their commute.

Winter Seasonal Jobs Can Lead to Full Time Work

Winter seasonal jobs are a great way to get your foot in the door and network, since they can often turn into full time work.  To increase the chances of your seasonal role turning into a full-time job, be sure to get to know your co-workers, always offer a helping hand even if it’s outside of your job description and be flexible with scheduling. Or if you already have a full-time job, winter seasonal jobs can be a great option for extra spending money for the holidays.

Last year was another positive year for winter seasonal jobs.  Amazon filled 120,000 seasonal retail job openings, Target filling 100,000 and Macy’s filled 80,000, to name a few.  There was high demand for a variety of seasonal retail job openings, including in-store customer facing positions, call center positions and warehouse jobs.  Many of the employees that took these jobs were then offered full time positions.  Expect more 2018 projections from these companies and more as the season continues.