Thirty-six percent of US retailers plan to add staff during holidays this year, up from 29% in 2011; 62% plan to pay holiday staff US$10 per hour or more, versus 53% last year: CareerBuilder

Cindy Allen

CHICAGO , October 25, 2012 (press release) – Retailers are stocking their stores with more than just merchandise going into the holiday season - they are also adding more seasonal help, according to a nationwide CareerBuilder survey. Thirty-six percent of retailers plan to have extra hands on deck around the holidays, a healthy jump from 29 percent in 2011. The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive© among more than 2,400 employers between August 13 and September 6, 2012.

While seasonal hiring is expected across the entire country, the five cities with the largest economies and plans to hire include:

Los Angeles – 22 percent of employers plan to hire season help, 40 percent plan to transition them to full-time positions
New York – 16 percent of employers plan to hire season help, 35 percent plan to transition them to full-time positions
Atlanta – 15 percent of employers plan to hire season help, 31 percent plan to transition them to full-time positions
Philadelphia – 14 percent of employers plan to hire season help, 36 percent plan to transition them to full-time positions
Chicago – 13 percent of employers plan to hire season help, 31 percent plan to transition them to full-time positions

"An increase in consumer confidence is helping to fuel the best seasonal hiring the U.S. has seen in recent years," said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder. "While the bulk of seasonal recruitment falls within the retail space, companies across industries are hiring for a wide range of positions to support their business operations as they wrap up the year."

When looking at functional areas within an office or store, popular areas for recruitment this holiday season include

Customer Service – 23 percent
Administrative/Clerical support – 15 percent
Hospitality – 15 percent
Shipping/Delivery – 14 percent
Accounting/Finance – 9 percent
Inventory management – 8 percent
Technology – 8 percent
Sales (other than retail) – 7 percent

Companies are hiring more and paying more

More than six-in-ten (62 percent) employers plan to pay holiday staff $10 or more an hour in 2012, up from 53 percent last year. Twenty-two percent will pay $16 or more, up from 14 percent last year.

Don't wait to get a seasonal gig

While holiday jobs fill up quickly, 36 percent of employers who are hiring seasonal staff reported they hire the most in October. Plans to hire in November (30 percent) remains strong, while it tails off in December (11 percent).

More employers plan to turn a seasonal gig into a full-time, permanent position.
Thirty-nine percent of employers who are hiring seasonal help plan to transition some employees into full-time, permanent staff, up from 30 percent in 2011. To stand out as a candidate for a long-term opportunity, hiring managers recommended the following:

Provide above and beyond customer service. Offer help instead of waiting to be asked for it – 53 percent
Proactively ask for more projects – 46 percent
Let the employer know up front that you're interested in permanent employment – 46 percent
Present ideas on how to do something better or try something new – 34 percent
Ask thoughtful questions about the organization – 32 percent

What are the biggest turnoffs for employers when interviewing for seasonal jobs? A lack of flexibility or expressed interest top the list, according to employers surveyed.

Someone who isn't enthusiastic – 55 percent
Someone who is unwilling to work certain hours – 48 percent
Someone who knows nothing about company/products – 31 percent
Someone who is more interested in the discount than anything else – 21 percent

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,494 U.S. hiring managers and human resource professionals and 3,976 U.S. workers (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) ages 18 and over between August 13 and September 6, 2012 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With pure probability samples of 2,494 and 3,976, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/-1.96 and +/-1.55 percentage points, respectively. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About CareerBuilder®

CareerBuilder is the global leader in human capital solutions, helping companies target and attract their most important asset - their people. Its online career site, CareerBuilder.com®, is the largest in the United States with more than 24 million unique visitors, 1 million jobs and 49 million resumes. CareerBuilder works with the world's top employers, providing resources for everything from employment branding and talent intelligence to recruitment support. More than 10,000 websites, including 140 newspapers and broadband portals such as MSN and AOL, feature CareerBuilder's proprietary job search technology on their career sites. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), Tribune Company and The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

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