Hiring (or not) for the holidays

Those seeking seasonal, part-time jobs to help buy holiday gifts will face more competition this year for the same number or fewer jobs.

The number of job seekers is double last year's, and they are applying several weeks earlier than normal, according to retailers. The seasonal job pool now includes people who lost full-time employment or suffered pay cuts and furloughs.

Analysts closely monitor seasonal hiring because it is an indicator of retailers' expectations for the critical fourth quarter. Although a few retailers said they will hire more people this year, many are hiring the same number or fewer workers.

Still, better-than-expected retail sales in September and momentum in the stock market give hope to retailers that this year's numbers will exceed last year's, business owners said.

The National Retail Federation projects that holiday sales will decline 1 percent this year from last year.

The Nebraska Department of Labor doesn't track seasonal hiring, but the Omaha metro area's retail sector is entering the holiday season with fewer jobs overall than in 2008, said Phil Baker, labor market information administrator.

Retail employment in the metro area is down by 1,888 jobs for the first eight months of the year compared with the same period last year, he said.

Mike Eastman, manager of the Department of Labor's Career Center at 57th and F Streets, said fewer employers are participating in job fairs.

“There's been little activity,” he said. “We're not seeing very much hiring right now in the seasonal positions you typically expect to see, like retail. That's not to say employers aren't hiring.

“It is possible they are filling some positions and they don't need to advertise because they have people walking in.”

Kerry Koonce, communications director for Iowa Workforce Development, said retailers might postpone seasonal hiring until they see whether consumers are spending.

That's what clothing and accessories retailer Lisa Smith is doing.

The co-owner of Me & Me in Village Pointe shopping center said she doesn't plan to hire anyone but has received more than the usual number of inquiries.

“We're trying to keep payroll down. We're kind of just playing it by ear,” said Smith, whose store opened in May 2008.

Like last holiday season, she will work six days a week. Her cousin, the store's co-owner, will come from Maine to help during December, and the store has two regular part-time employees.

Omaha Steaks and Nebraska Furniture Mart plan to hire the same number of seasonal workers as last year.

Omaha-based Borsheims jewelry store and the Buckle, a national clothing chain based in Kearney, Neb., are among those retailers hiring more.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that nearly half the nation's 25 biggest retail chains expect to hire fewer holiday workers this year.

Retailers typically boost their staffs by as much as 10 percent in the fourth quarter, the newspaper reported, but about 40 percent of the stores surveyed expect to hire between 5 percent and 25 percent fewer workers this year.

Nebraska Furniture Mart Vice President Bob Batt is optimistic that this season will be better than last, but that doesn't mean the company will hire more holiday workers than the 24 added last year.

“You have to watch your labor costs,” Batt said.

The store, which has avoided layoffs, might instead increase the hours of existing workers, he said.

Borsheims, whose 13 layoffs earlier this year were the first in the company's more than 100-year history, has hired 25 seasonal employees, up from 18 last year, said spokeswoman Adrienne Fay.

Of those 25, five were people previously laid off, she said.

Attrition in sales positions allowed for the additional holiday workers, Fay said. Because the holiday season is so critical to overall sales for the year, the company wanted to have as much customer help as possible, she said.

Omaha Steaks, which had increased the number of seasonal workers for at least eight years, will hire the same number as last year, 2,300, said spokeswoman Beth Weiss. That includes part-time and full-time positions, ranging from 15 to 40 hours a week.

“The past several years we've had really dynamic growth,” she said. “This year we're not seeing perhaps the level of growth we've had in previous years, but we're having a solid year.”

The company has not laid off any workers and anticipates a “very strong holiday season,” she said.

The Buckle is hiring 10 percent to 20 percent more seasonal workers at its four metro-area stores, said Scott Werth, district sales manager.

The Buckle, with more than 400 stores in 41 states, is one of the national retailers routinely cited for a strong performance in the recession, which is why it can hire more people, Werth said.

Companywide, the Buckle expects to hire about 3,300 seasonal workers, 10 percent more than last year, said company spokeswoman Christie Heacock.

“Many of our current teammates will also work more hours than their typical schedule during the holiday season,” she said.

Contact the writer:

444-1183, christine.laue@owh.com

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