According to a recent report from executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas, the down economy will likely hinder holiday employment opportunities for temporary workers.
Retailers are expected to continue to be cautious in their hiring decisions because of the fragile state of the economy, and are worried about being caught with too many workers if things take a turn for the worse.
Overall, retail payrolls were down slightly in August, year-over-year. However, last year's holiday season saw a 27 percent increase from the 495,800 seasonal temp workers added during the last quarter of 2009, the Denver Post reports.
And while the number of temporary workers added to payrolls during October, November and December is likely to fall short of pre-recession levels, CGC's chief executive officer, John Challenger, still sees hope.
"This year we expect to see further gains in seasonal hiring, but it probably will not achieve the levels we saw in 2006 or 2007 when retailers' holiday payrolls grew by 746,800 and 720,800, respectively," he said, adding that seasonal job seekers shouldn't be discouraged, as some companies – such as Toys "R" Us – will open temporary "express" stores, and plan on hiring upwards of 10,000 workers.
