2021 Seasonal Retail Hiring Update 

RETAILERS, TRANSPORTATION & WAREHOUSING CONTINUE TO ADD FEWER SEASONAL JOBS THAN IN 2020

Published December 14, 2021

Companies in Retail have added 7.5% fewer seasonal jobs and those in Transportation and Warehousing have added 8.4% fewer seasonal jobs this year compared to 2020, according to an analysis of non-seasonally adjusted data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics by global outplacement and business and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. 

Retailers have added 551,400 jobs in October and November compared to 596,000 jobs added in the same period last year. In fact, this is the lowest October-November total for the sector since 2016 when 508,800 seasonal Retail jobs were added.

Transportation and Warehousing, a sector that saw enormous seasonal growth in 2020 with a 67% increase in jobs added over 2019, added 340,700 jobs in October and November, compared to 372,100 added during the same period last year.

Challenger predicted Retailers would add 700,000 jobs this holiday season, down from the 736,000 jobs added last year, mainly due to the difficulty employers are having filling these roles.

“We know demand is up and retail sales are predicted to blow past last year. We also know employers are having difficulty hiring in-person, shift workers, despite offering wage increases and other benefits,” said Andrew Challenger, Senior Vice President for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

Indeed, the National Retail Federation expects Retail sales in the final two months of the year to hit a record high of between $834 billion and 859 billion.

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