Last year about 912,000 seasonal jobs were added to the economy as mostly retail, transportation, and warehousing businesses braced for the typical holiday busy season. Over two-thirds of the seasonal jobs came from big employers, but this year several of these, such as UPS and Target, have announced job cuts to their permanent workforce. The jobs website Indeed reports a 27% increase of holiday job seekers, but a 15% reduction in available positions compared to last year’s holiday season. Employers also report that a significant number of job applicants are professionals who have lost higher-paying jobs, or college graduates unable to find permanent employment in their field.
Companies known for hiring tens of thousands of additional holiday workers, such as UPS, Target, and Macy’s, have still not made any announcements about holiday hiring plans. Last year large employers hired 660,000 holiday workers, but this year they plan to hire 372,000 for the season, according to the job-placement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas. These are the lowest figures since the firm began to track them in 2012.
One reason that employers are more cautious for hiring holiday workers is that consumers have more economic uncertainty. According to a report from Deloitte, 77% of consumers expect higher prices for holiday items and 57% expect that the economy will be weaker in 2026—these are the most pessimistic figures since Deloitte began tracking economic sentiment in 1997. The report also found that all income groups and all generations except Gen X expect to spend less this holiday season. Consumers are also expected to look for better bargains, are less concerned with brand name products, and may travel less. Consumers have more insecurity over inflation, job security, tariffs, and other issues. According to research at the University of Michigan, only 11% of Americans expect their paychecks to keep up with inflation. The University of Michigan also reports that consumer sentiment is at a near record low.
