Companies Vie for Seasonal Workers

SEATTLE – Help-wanted signs are not disappearing as retailers from Amazon to Target scramble to hire more than 700,000 seasonal workers this year—the highest number in four years, CNBC reports.

American retailers have begun the search sooner for holiday staff with more benefits and pay to lure employees in the tightest labor market in decades. With unemployment hovering around 3.7% in October, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, competition for seasonal workers is fierce.

Kohl’s began hiring for the winter holidays in June. “We saw an 80% increase in total hires from July through early September,” said spokeswoman Jen Johnson. Meanwhile, Amazon recently raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour for its U.S. workers starting November 1. J.C. Penney is giving employees chances to win raffles with prizes such as vacation packages and gift bundles worth up to $5,000.

Merchants already face pressure to raise entry-level wages, with the annual median base pay for a cashier bumping up 5.4% to reach $28,237 last month, according to Glassdoor.com. Amazon said it would fill all seasonal openings no later than the first part of December. Target is ahead of its schedule to staff 120,000 temp jobs. Both UPS and FedEx will each hire 5,000 more employees than last year.

The United States isn’t the only country trying to fill open positions. In Japan, convenience stores are increasingly offering perks like childcare and discounts on home appliances to woo workers.