It’s no secret that a huge staffing surge helps to meet consumer need between Thanksgiving and New Years. Results from this year’s Thanksgiving weekend are streaming in around $59 billion. While 57 percent of retailers plan on holiday hiring at the same level as 2011, 36 percent say they will be hiring more. This is a shift from 2011 when just 10 percent planned to hire more seasonal workers than the year prior.
Workers, especially in the light industrial arena, will flood the market this month and the next. They’ll work in retail stores, call centers, and distribution warehouses. They’ll assist customers, restock merchandise, check stock inventory, fill shelves to capacity, and build and move record amounts of product.
More Than Temps
But holiday hiring is more than just helping with your business’ present needs. Temp workers who go above and beyond might just be perfect candidates for future hiring in 2013. Source your holiday temp pool for workers who go above and beyond, and grab them up for growth opportunities. It’s a contingent-labor plan that more and more businesses are grabbing hold of.
“Retailers are betting big on the 2012 holiday season,” said Craig Rowley, Vice President and Global Practice Leader for research center Hay Group. “After four years of economic turbulence, they have figured out how to operate in an uncertain business environment, and are calm and cool, rather than concerned, as they head into the holidays.”
So: minimize the burnout and give your business the boost it needs during this season. But source some good folks for later on, too, even if you’ve never considered temporary labor until now. Give it a try.
