LoginMany retailers plan to hire more workers in the next few months in order to handle the added activity that occurs during the run-up to the Christmas holiday season. Though it’s not even half-way through September, many companies are already making plans to increase staff levels.
In a recent interview with the Toledo Blade, Challenger, Gray & Christmas CEO Jon Chavez said that he believed hiring for the October-December period will exceed last year's levels. The 2011 total of 718,500 temporary workers were hired, an improvement from the year before, increasing 14.5 percent. Challenger said that industries such as restaurants and hospitality were making significant progress.
However, the rate of growth is slow and may not be enough to help many of the millions still out of work.
"It feels like the economy's not growing very rapidly, probably under 2 percent, so it seems unlikely that we'll see explosive growth in seasonal hiring," he said. "But layoffs are very light and companies are in slow-growth mode."
While many search for employment opportunities, there are signs that the number of openings is increasing. The June 2012 Employment Outlook conducted by SimplyHired.com revealed that the number of job openings increased 3.3 percent during the month of May.
Content provided by executive search organization, MRINetwork.