Findings show 90 percent of employers plan on hiring this holiday season.
Employers plan to hire more seasonal employees this year than in 2015 and 2014, with 55 percent of them planning to fill those positions by October, according to Snagajob’s proprietary annual report around holiday hiring. This means that the pressure is on hourly employers to solidify their holiday hiring strategies to ensure that they can get – and keep – the right employees.
The report and accompanying infographic highlight 2016 trends around hiring this holiday season. Data includes how employers intend to hire this year, how this has changed from the past few holiday seasons, and what employers are doing to gain a competitive edge as the labor market continues to tighten. Since hourly workers make up 70 percent of America’s workforce, this data has important implications for millions of Americans and their families on both sides of the hiring process.
The report’s data is also particularly relevant as the hourly marketplace continues to be disrupted via the rise of the on-demand economy and a changing legislative landscape (i.e. new overtime pay rule), for example.
Key findings of the report include:
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in August 2016 was 4.9 percent, down almost 4 percent from the same time last year. The report asserts that although the unemployment rate has dropped, the labor participation rate has remained at a constant 62.8 percent, meaning that the supply of available workers is decreasing, while competition among employers to attract workers is increasing.
The survey found that 82 percent of employers are facing serious challenges filling their temporary holiday positions, including a lack of qualified workers (44 percent); a lack of available workers (34 percent), and competition due to openings by other employers (30 percent). Because of these challenges, employers are spending 16 percent more time on hiring than in 2015. One way to attract new candidates, particularly among millennials, is to use an app to aid with the hiring process, something that 91 percent of employers said they are willing to do to get good workers.
And employers anticipate that an average of 23 of their seasonal employees will remain on staff this year, up 5 percent over 2015. But even with higher wages and hours, employers need to stay competitive, which means giving workers the perks they want. The annual State of the Hourly Worker report found that the top three most wanted on-the-job- perks for hourly workers include providing a monthly stipend to purchase items from workplace (36.8 percent); and giving employees the freedom to wear whatever they want (30 percent); issuing VIP vouchers that offer workplace discounts (17.8 percent).
The report surveyed more than 1,000 hourly employers across the retail, restaurant, and hospitality industries.
