Seasonal Hiring Trends [infographic]

Thanksgiving is Thursday and Christmas is just weeks away. With the holiday season in full effect, more and more employers are gearing up to meet the needs of their customers. How so? Well, by hiring, of course.

According to an infographic, Shake Up Hiring For the Holiday Season by Hire Vue and Aon Hewitt, 75 percent of retailers are planning to hire additional staff for the holiday season while 48 percent are planning to hire more seasonal workers than last year. Check out what the infographic had to say about the other up-to-date information on this holiday season’s hiring scene below:

Customer Trends

• Customers who plan to pick up their purchases in-store after buying online has increased by 15 percent, while 16 percent of retailers have a new product or service that’s expected to boost sales.

• 53 percent of retailers expect customers to spend more this year, which explains the boost in hiring.

Hiring

• The infographic showed that 35 percent of retailers did not hire enough staff last holiday season.

• 28 percent of retailers plan to hire seasonal workers as full-time staff

The hiring data also gave reasons why retailers have ended up in negative situations when considering new hires:

• 14 percent didn’t perform a background check and HR managers managed the entire hiring process on their own

• 19 percent hired the first person who walked in the door

• More than half —53 percent —didn’t interview enough applicants

So what type of applicants are retailers currently seeking?

The data showed that 50 percent need sales associates, while 21 percent are seeking cashiers. Workers for stocking and custodial purposes have the lowest job prospects with 8 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

Also, attitude is very important in workers. At 91 percent, almost all of retailers desire workers who are friendly and customer oriented. Seventy-one percent want flexible schedules and 53 percent would like prior retail experience.