One of our recent surveys revealed that nearly half of Americans would consider taking a seasonal job with a retail company for the holidays. However, Joyce Russell, president of Adecco Staffing USA, stresses that it’s important to remember that seasonal hiring needs are not limited to the retail workforce. Businesses across industries — from manufacturing to warehousing to call centers to shipping and logistics companies and beyond — are impacted by holiday surges. In a column for The Business Journals, Russell details three key steps that every business needs to take to ensure that they have a successful holiday season:
Evaluate your workforce
Anticipate future needs
Leave time to consider your brand
The Seattle Times profiled the shifting landscape of holiday workforce hiring, particularly in regards to the growing number of online shoppers. The retail federation is forecasting holidays sales to increase by 3.7 percent over last year to $630.5 billion, with nearly half of those sales expected to be made online. This move towards online holiday shopping and the expectation of fast delivery has resulted in increased hiring efforts in warehouses, fulfillment centers and delivery services, in addition to traditional retail stores. The key takeaway of this year’s holiday season is the scale of hiring efforts and preparation that will be required. Businesses need to be mindful of the fact that the holiday season is not just exclusive to retail stores and will have an impact across numerous industries.
At Adecco, we have clients in every sector and every region of the country who have staff augmentation plans in place.