Summary:
Hundreds of thousands of seasonal retail workers across North America and Europe would usually be wrapping gifts, stirring hot chocolates, tidying Christmas displays, or assisting the flurry of last-minute shoppers.
Hundreds of thousands of seasonal retail workers across North America and Europe would usually be wrapping gifts, stirring hot chocolates, tidying Christmas displays, or assisting the flurry of last-minute shoppers.
But the balance of available holiday jobs this year has radically shifted from storefront to warehouse and delivery amid record purchases online. And with millions of retail workers in the United States and Europe already laid-off, competition for what remaining jobs are left is fierce, economists say.
The supply of available holiday jobs in U.S. customer-facing retail fell by a third to 302,100 this year from around 466,400 jobs last November, data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics gathered by consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed.
Macy’s Inc cut seasonal hires to 25,000 this year from 80,000 in 2019. JC Penney Company Inc, narrowly rescued from bankruptcy in early November, is hiring just 1,700 people in contrast to 37,000 last year. For a graphic, click here ‘Tis the season: Fewer retail jobs up for grabs.
Meanwhile, applications for U.S. storefront retail positions have jumped by around 34% year-on-year, according to November data from jobs site Glassdoor.
Kayla Frederick, 31, was laid off from her position as leasing assistant for a tour bus company in Florence, Alabama in April as venues closed and tours were cancelled because of the pandemic. In November, she started her first-ever seasonal job in a local clothing boutique’s warehouse, pulling online orders, folding inventory and tagging intake items.
“I never expected to be laid off this long,” Frederick said. “I’m thankful this gave me a job.”
In Europe, data from jobs sites like Indeed, Adzuna, Student Jobs, and CV Library paints a similar picture of lower vacancies and rising applications. The number of available seasonal jobs in the UK was down by a third year-on-year in November to 13,600, according to Adzuna data.
CV Library reported a 60% drop in the number of customer-facing retail jobs listed in the UK compared to last year – but clicks per job have doubled. In Germany and the UK, sales associates at jobs site Student Jobs reported increased contact from frustrated students not hearing back from companies inundated in applications.
Data from Indeed in the UK showed a jump of around a third in clicks per posting on seasonal jobs this year compared to last, according to a report by Indeed’s UK in-house economist Jack Kennedy.
“Jobseekers may be looking at Christmas jobs as a potential temporary lifeline as job losses mount,” Kennedy wrote.
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Source :https://in.reuters.com/article/instant-article/idUSKBN28O0FS
