Innsbrook-Based SnagAJob.com Says Holiday Hiring Looks Gloomy

The unemployed may not be getting the holiday gift they were hoping for this year: a job. Innsbrook-based SnagAJob.com released the results of their annual holiday hiring survey Thursday. The poll, conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs, questioned 1,005 hiring managers. It found that only 47 percent planned on hiring additional hourly workers for the shopping season. Of […]

October 8, 2009; 3:49 PM • by Al Harris

The unemployed may not be getting the holiday gift they were hoping for this year: a job. Innsbrook-based SnagAJob.com released the results of their annual holiday hiring survey Thursday. The poll, conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs, questioned 1,005 hiring managers.

It found that only 47 percent planned on hiring additional hourly workers for the shopping season.

Of those, the number of employees they plan to hire has fallen 26 percent to 6.7 employees from nine employees last year. In 2007 hiring managers planned on bringing in 11 additional employees.

“It’s hard for job seekers to be overly optimistic about holiday hiring this year,” said Shawn Boyer, CEO of SnagAJob.com, in a press release. Traditional retail outlets and other holiday employers are being understandably cautious as there’s a natural lag between consumer spending and an uptick in hiring.

For those business that are not hiring for the season the most common reason was current staff taking on additional hours (45 percent), followed by lack of budget (30 percent), and slow business levels (25 percent).

And while jobs are scarcer, more and more job hunters are going after them. More than half of the hiring managers surveyed expected to receive more applications than last year.

Despite the gloomy outlook, SnagAJob has a few businesses searching for hourly workers through their website. Toys “R” Us plans on hiring 35,000 workers nationwide, UPS is hiring seasonal drivers, and JCPenney Portraits is hiring photographers. And looking head, Jackson Hewitt is hiring tax preparers.

October 8, 2009 3:49 PM 0