Holiday job postings jump 10%, yet retailers plan fewer hires than in 2025
Retailers expect about 450,000 seasonal hires, fewer than last year's 461,500, which was the smallest gain since 2008, and they are posting more holiday work as part-time. Event hirers booking December parties are chasing the same weekend workers.
Holiday job postings are off to their best start in several years, and retailers still plan to hire fewer seasonal workers than last year. Seasonal postings on Indeed were running about 10% ahead of a year earlier as of Sept. 30 and roughly 7% above 2019 levels, according to Indeed Hiring Lab. Challenger, Gray & Christmas expects about 450,000 seasonal retail hires this quarter, below the 461,500 added in 2025, which was already the smallest seasonal gain since 2008.
Two shifts explain the gap: employers are posting more holiday work under a part-time label, and retailers are filling shifts from staff they already have. That leaves event hirers staffing December holiday parties, corporate events and venue shows competing with retail for the same weekend and evening workers, likely through December. For workers, it means more openings, spread across more job titles.
Postings are up, but the seasonal label is fading
In an Oct. 15 analysis, Indeed Hiring Lab's Cory Stahle described this as seasonal hiring's best start in several years. The bigger change is in how employers label the jobs.
- Part-time label49%▲ 11% vs previous period
- Seasonal label20%▼ 14% vs previous period
- Full-time label20%
Source: Seasonal Hiring Is Off to a Fast Start, With an Eye Toward 2027 · As of Sep 2026
Among large employers, most of them retailers, the part-time label overtook the seasonal one between the end of September 2025 and the end of September 2026. Full-time labels held near 20%. Hiring Lab also reports that one of last year's most active seasonal recruiters has not posted a meaningful number of seasonal jobs this year. It did not name the employer.
The holiday roles have not gone away; many now carry a part-time tag. That changes how the numbers read. Hiring Lab counts a posting as seasonal when its title uses a holiday-related term such as holiday, seasonal, temporary or Christmas. A store that posts its December roles as part-time drops out of that count, so the seasonal figure can understate the holiday demand underneath it.
Retailers are hiring surgically, not in waves
Challenger forecasts about 450,000 seasonal retail jobs this holiday quarter. Last year's 461,500 was the smallest seasonal gain since 2008 and 15% below the 543,100 retailers added in Q4 2024, based on the non-seasonally adjusted Bureau of Labor Statistics data Challenger cites.
“Retailers are leaning on automation, existing associates, and on-demand pools before hiring net-new seasonal workers,” said Andy Challenger, the firm's workplace expert and chief revenue officer. Challenger traces that move toward flexible, on-demand staffing back to 2024.
It's more about restocking staffing plans surgically than a return to the 900,000-plus seasonal hiring years.
Logistics looks similar. Transportation and warehousing added 266,500 seasonal jobs in Q4 2025, down 12% from 2024 and the lowest fourth-quarter total since 2018. Challenger expects a similar total this year.
Two large shippers have announced since Challenger's outlook. On Oct. 7, UPS said it plans to hire about 100,000 seasonal workers, down from about 110,000 last year and 125,000 in 2024, People Matters reported, citing Reuters. On Oct. 20, Amazon said it is hiring more than 300,000 people across its U.S. operations network for the holidays. That figure combines seasonal, part-time and full-time roles, so it does not compare directly with the 250,000 seasonal hires Challenger cites for each of Amazon's last three years.
| Employer | 2026 plan | Earlier seasons | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spirit Halloween | 52,000 associates across a record 1,575 U.S. and Canada stores | Not cited | Announced |
| Michaels | 10,000+ seasonal team members | Nearly half of last year's seasonal in-store roles became regular positions | Announced Sept. 10 |
| Amazon | More than 300,000 U.S. roles, seasonal, part-time and full-time combined | 250,000 seasonal hires in each of the last three years | Announced Oct. 20 |
| UPS | About 100,000 seasonal workers | About 110,000 in 2025; 125,000 in 2024 | Announced Oct. 7 |
| Target | No national total; 2,300 seasonal hires for metro Atlanta stores, at $15 to $24 an hour | 100,000 | Local plans reported Oct. 8 |
| Kohl's | Not disclosed | About 90,000 | No national total announced as of Oct. 29 |
More workers want extra holiday hours
Job seeker demand is climbing faster than employer demand. Desktop searches for seasonal and holiday jobs on Indeed rose about 28% year over year, which Hiring Lab ties to inflation and a labor market where hiring is slow.
Many of those searchers already work. Earlier Hiring Lab research, cited in the October analysis, found that 16% of Indeed job seekers hold at least two jobs, many of them in retail or other service work.
Seasonal event jobs: hirers compete for the same workers
A worker that retail wants for a Saturday stocking shift is the same worker an event hirer wants for a Saturday gala, a December corporate holiday party or a holiday event at a hotel or venue. With postings up and more roles listed as part-time, weekend and evening availability is likely to get harder to lock in as the holidays get closer.
Venues started early. In September, Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville held two seasonal hiring events ahead of its 43rd annual "A Country Christmas," recruiting servers, bartenders, coffee bar staff and event coordination workers for part- and full-time roles, WZTV Fox 17 reported. The resort pitched flexible schedules and a free meal each shift. Event hirers booking December parties and venue events are recruiting from that same pool.
The multi-job group matters most. Someone who already holds two jobs needs work that fits around a fixed schedule. Event work is usually booked by the shift, so it can fit around a main job more easily than a standing part-time schedule. A listing that states shift times, length and pay up front speaks to that worker.
The one event-adjacent data point in either report: photographers rank among Indeed's top five non-retail seasonal job titles.
Where the seasonal openings are
Retail still leads, but its share is shrinking. Retail made up about two-thirds of seasonal postings in 2019 and about 61% in 2026, according to Hiring Lab. Loading and stocking roles grew from 3.5% of seasonal postings to about 9% over the same span. Outside retail, the top titles include customer service representatives, unloaders and delivery drivers.
Hiring Lab's data is national only, with no state or city breakdown. To find seasonal jobs near you, search by city and role, and include part-time listings, since many holiday jobs now carry that label.
