Retail sector holiday hiring expected to fall 7.8% from a year ago

Seasonal retail holiday hirings are expected to be fewer and farther between this year with an estimated 520,000 new jobs available in the final quarter of the year, according to a report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas and first reported by Reuters.

Total seasonal hiring expectations are down 7.8% or 44,200 fewer jobs compared to a year ago.

“This prediction considers that now, job gains are falling, and consumers have tightened spending. … Seasonal employers will add jobs, but need may fluctuate as the season progresses,” said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president at Challenger, Gray & Christmas which tracks government data and hiring trends.

Challenger said the forecast is the lowest since 2022. Part of the reason for the expected decline relates to the weakest holiday sales forecast in six years amid early holiday sentiment collected and reported by Deloitte. Other reasons for the lower holiday hiring expectations include retailers being unable to fill the positions or offering existing employees the opportunity for more hours worked, which Walmart did in 2023.

According to the report, U.S.-based companies have already announced around 178,350 planned hires for the holiday season. Among those announcements include Minneapolis-based retailer Target, which plans to hire 100,000 seasonal workers to put extra staff in stores and supply chain fulfillment centers. Target has employed around 100,000-holiday workers in the past three years and does not see any reason to cut back on that number.

Off-price retailer Burlington Stores announced plans to hire 1,500 full-time and 23,000 part-time seasonal workers for the upcoming holiday shopping period. Bath & Body Works said it would hire 30,000 seasonal workers this year to staff its stores and pick online orders. Discount grocery chain Aldi said it will add 13,000 workers this holiday season while boosting the average hourly wage to $23. The Aldi jobs will be in stores and warehouses, with an average starting wage between $18 and $23 per hour.