The 2020 holiday season is going to look a lot different from years past, with just 20% of Americans planning¹ to do their holiday shopping exclusively in stores. And yet, spending is expected to remain strong, with Deloitte² predicting holiday retail sales of around $1.1 trillion, a modest increase from 2019.
Businesses are gearing up to handle the rush, albeit in different ways than prior years. Twenty-four percent of small- to medium-sized businesses say they’ll be extending their business hours, while 20% say they’ll be digitizing more of their operations and investing in additional physical infrastructure to keep pace with consumers’ shifting demands.
Good news if you’re looking for seasonal jobs: companies are still hiring, just for slightly different positions than we typically see. This year, seasonal hiring will have less of a focus on in-store, customer-facing roles and more of a focus on fulfilling back-end demands and bringing brick-and-mortar operations online.
15 Companies Participating in Seasonal Hiring
Amazon
The eCommerce behemoth will hire 100,000 new workers across the U.S. and Canada. These are a mix of full- and part-time roles paying at least $15 an hour, with sign-on bonuses up to $1,000 in select cities. Workers are needed to sort inventory and fulfill orders in the company’s fulfillment centers and delivery stations. In addition to its seasonal hiring, the company has a need to fill 33,000 corporate and technology jobs in cities nationwide for divisions including Alexa, AWS, operations technology and Prime Video. Many of these positions pay $100,000 a year or more.
Target
Target is looking for workers to fill 130,000 seasonal jobs across its retail stores and supply chain locations. Retail responsibilities include interacting with guests, helping maintain safe shopping conditions and staffing the order pickup and drive-up stations, which have surged in popularity this year. Behind the scenes at its 40+ distribution centers, Target needs staffers to process freight, fulfill online orders, and receive, pack and load shipments. All positions start at $15 an hour or more.
Walmart
In the last five years, Walmart has shied away from doing significant seasonal hiring, instead opting to offer existing employees more hours to meet peak demand. This year, however, it plans to add 20,000 seasonal workers to beef up the staff at its eCommerce fulfillment centers in response to the massive shift to online shopping. Workers will fill digital orders and operate warehouse equipment, with rates starting at a minimum of $15.75 an hour.
FedEx
Shipping carriers are bracing for record-breaking volume this year and stepping up their staffing to meet the unprecedented demand. FedEx says it will add 70,000 seasonal employees to its workforce. The majority of them will join the FedEx Ground network, which includes residential delivery drivers and warehouse package handlers.
UPS
UPS will hire for more than 100,000 full- and part-time seasonal jobs including package handlers, drivers, driver-helpers, and personal vehicle drivers. The company touts its seasonal positions as a great way to break into a permanent role; over the last three years, about 35% of people hired in seasonal package handler jobs were later brought onboard full time, and close to a third of the company’s U.S. employees started in a seasonal role.
CVS
Not all seasonal jobs deal with holiday shopping. Drugstore giant CVS Health is looking for 15,000 seasonal staffers to meet the heightened volume during flu season. Many of these positions are remote customer service representative roles, which start at 30 hours a week and offer flexible schedules. Licensed pharmacy technicians, both full- and part-time, are also in high demand.
Macy’s
Ahead of its namesake Thanksgiving parade—which will be virtual this year, by the way—Macy’s plans to add 25,000 temporary positions to its fulfillment centers. Full- and part-time workers in these seasonal jobs will help fulfill orders placed online and via the retailer’s mobile app. Duties may include packing and shipping orders and preparing orders for in-store pickup.
Best Buy
Best Buy has joined the ranks of companies that have adopted a $15 minimum wage across all U.S. locations. The technology retailer currently lists thousands of seasonal openings nationwide, including store associates, Geek Squad technicians, and fulfillment center staff.
Kohl’s
Kohl’s is seeking seasonal workers to join its teams in retail stores and distribution centers. Retail jobs include store associates, who serve customers, and operations associates, who stock and organize merchandise. Employees in distribution centers are responsible for picking, packing and shipping orders and operating machinery. To maintain safer conditions for applicants, Kohl’s will conduct all interviews for seasonal jobs over the phone rather than in person.
Gap
The holidays are the busiest time of year for the Gap, Inc. family of apparel brands, and the company is hiring 12,500 seasonal workers for its stores, distribution centers and call centers to respond to the increased traffic. The jobs are distributed among the company’s many brands, which include Gap, Athleta, Banana Republic, Intermix, Janie and Jack and Old Navy.
1-800-Flowers
1-800-Flowers.com Inc. is among the many companies that have adapted their seasonal hiring plans to include more work-from-home positions. The company says it will hire 10,000 seasonal workers, 1,000 of whom will be remote customer service agents. The remainder of the jobs is for gift assembly and customer service roles located primarily in the company’s Illinois, Ohio and Oregon locations.
Michaels
Arts and crafts retailer Michaels is seeking more than 16,000 seasonal workers across the U.S. and Canada to ramp up for the holiday season in its retail stores and distribution centers. Last year, more than 50% of the company’s seasonal in-store workers were hired into regular roles after the holidays.
Bass Pro Shops
7,000 seasonal positions are up for grabs at Bass Pro Shops, including jobs in the company’s retail stores, call centers, distribution centers and manufacturing plants. In addition to its retail operations, the company operates a series of conservation attractions and resort destinations in the Ozark Mountains; these locations are also seeking seasonal employees.
Hobby Lobby
Hobby Lobby plans to add as many as 14,000 seasonal jobs at its nearly 1,000 stores nationwide. At the beginning of October, the retailer announced it would raise its minimum full-time hourly wage to $17 company-wide.
Temp Work
Seasonal jobs aren’t limited to the big-box retailers. Many companies see a spike in demand for temp workers as full-time staffers take time off for the holidays. Seasonal temp jobs typically include administrative, technology and assistant roles. To find temporary holiday work near you, your best bet is to work with a staffing agency that specializes in temporary hiring, like 4 Corner Resources.
How to Get Hired For Seasonal Jobs
Take It Seriously
The competition for seasonal jobs is fierce this year. According to CBS News³, seasonal job listings on career site Glassdoor were down 8% from last year while applications were up 36%. With millions of Americans looking for work, candidates will be up against people who’ve never been in the seasonal job market in the past. This means you’ll need to bring your A-game.
Polish your resume, tailoring it specifically to the jobs you’re applying for. For retail roles, this means highlighting customer- and client-facing experience, while for fulfillment roles you’ll want to focus on your logistics strengths. Be prepared for several rounds of interviews, which may include phone and virtual components.
Be Flexible
Holiday jobs, by nature, consist of long hours and nonstandard shifts, so coming into an interview with a strict set of scheduling constraints isn’t likely to result in an offer. Be prepared to work nights and weekends in addition to shorter or on-call shifts. If you’re open to overnight work, this could give you a leg up on the competition.
Keep Applying
Though many companies started hiring in early fall, it’s not too late to land a seasonal job. Many companies hire on a rolling basis all the way through the end of the year, as volume remains high into January with late shoppers and post-holiday returns. Additionally, the temporary nature of seasonal work means some people leave after just a few weeks, which can result in openings later on in the season.
Find Your Next Temporary or Permanent Position with Help from 4 Corner Resources
Whether you’re looking for a temporary job to fill a break in full-time employment or want to add a second job to bring in extra income over the holidays, 4 Corner Resources can connect you with seasonal positions in your area. From customer service to retail to administration, our repeat clients rely on us year after year to fill their seasonal roles with qualified, dependable workers like you.
In the market for a new full-time job? We can help with that, too. Our direct-hire recruiters specialize in matching talented candidates with opportunities at top companies around the country. Browse our open positions now or send your resume to connect@4cornerresources.com and one of our headhunters will get in touch with you soon.
Resources and Sources
- https://usa.visa.com/dam/VCOM/blogs/visa-back-to-business-study-holiday-sep20.pdf
- https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/15/deloitte-estimates-2020-holiday-retail-sales-will-rise-1-to-1point5percent-.html
- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/holiday-jobs-heres-the-retailers-still-hiring-and-what-they-pay/
