Holiday hiring has long filled two roles for America’s workers.
Some people took on a new job, or an extra job to pay for gifts, travel, and seasonal expenses. That might mean a stay-at-home mom taking some night hours at a retailer or a college kid coming and taking a job during the winter break.
In other cases, people take seasonal jobs hoping it leads to full-time work, and in some cases, that can happen.
While many big-name retailers have cut their hiring plans, or haven’t announced them at all, the broader seasonal job market is showing strength. Indeed data suggests that employers are posting more seasonal jobs than they did a year ago, even as some of the largest retailers shift toward different staffing strategies.
“Seasonal hiring is off to its best start in several years. As of September 30, seasonal job postings on Indeed were up about 10% from the same point last year, and were running roughly 7% ahead of 2019 levels. That early strength is one reason to expect the momentum could carry past this year’s holiday shopping season,” according to Indeed’s Hiring Lab.
The market, however, is shifting.
“A group of large employers is posting far fewer seasonal jobs than they did a year ago, but making up for some of that drop by shifting toward hiring more non-seasonal, part-time roles — a potential sign of optimism heading into the final months of 2026,” the research showed.
These retailer are hiring seasonal workers
As the former general manager of an independent toy store, we added a lot of seasonal workers. Many were returning college kids who had worked for us in high school, and most came from our regular customer base.
That’s not realistic for major chains, a number of which are hiring.
- Dick’s Sporting Goods and Foot Locker: Hiring more than 11,000 seasonal workers. Approximately 8,400 across Dick’s Sporting Goods, House of Sport, Going Going Gone!, and Public Lands, plus about 2,900 at Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, WSS, and Champs Sports stores in North America, according to a press release.
- Macy’s, Inc.: Hiring seasonal workers nationwide. Opportunities include full- and part-time jobs at Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Bluemercury, plus positions at select distribution and fulfillment centers. The company scheduled nationwide hiring events for Oct. 22 and Nov. 19, with on-the-spot interviews and offers at the first event, according to a press release.
- Macy’s also made it clear that “for some, a seasonal role can open the door to longer-term career opportunities at Macy’s, Inc. beyond the holiday season.”
- Michaels: Hiring more than 10,000 seasonal employees. The arts-and-crafts retailer announced plans to hire across the United States and Canada. Nearly 50% of seasonal in-store positions converted to regular jobs after the 2025 holiday season, according to the company.
- Spirit Halloween: Hiring more than 52,000 seasonal associates. The retailer said this was the largest hiring effort in its history, supporting more than 1,500 stores across the United States and Canada, according to a press release. These jobs primarily serve through the Halloween season, although the company does operate a smaller fleet of Spirit Christmas stores
- UPS: United Parcel Service said it would hire 100,000 seasonal employees across the U.S., as it prepares for a spike in parcel volumes for the upcoming holiday season, Reuters reported.
These are not the only retailers hiring for the holiday season, but they’re the ones promoting the largest number of open positions.
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Some major retailers are holding back
Some retailers have, in recent years, leveraged their existing workforce by adding hours to handle the holiday rush.
Several major retailers that have historically issued early hiring targets have not shared any 2026 plans.
“Amazon has hit 250,000 seasonal hires in each of the last three years and typically announces in mid-October. Bath & Body Works has committed to 30,000+ associates in each of the last three seasons and normally announces in early September. Target has held its number of hires at 100,000 for the past several years, and Kohl’s hired roughly 90,000 for most of the past decade,” according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas’s 2026 Holiday Hiring Outlook.
That doesn’t mean those retailers have no seasonal hiring plans, but they’re likely modest.
“So far, none have publicly disclosed 2026 headcount figures, a continuation of the trend that emerged in 2024 as Retailers shifted toward flexible, on-demand staffing models,” the Hiring Outlook shared.
In recent years, Walmart has approached seasonal hiring on a store-by-store basis. It has not set a national hiring goal, but does show seasonal openings on its website in multiple markets.
Retailers are wary about the holiday season
Holiday hiring has been falling.
Retailers added 461,500 jobs in the final quarter of 2025, the smallest seasonal gain since 2008 and 15% below the 543,100 added in Q4 2024, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas’s analysis of non-seasonally adjusted Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
“The deepening pain from high energy costs may continue into the holiday season, and consumers may contract spending. That said, August retail sales jumped 1.2%, and there’s no sign of a major spending pullback. But that resilience is not translating into large, early hiring commitments from the biggest Retailers,” Challenger, Gray & Christmas Chief Revenue Officer Andy Challenger said.
Companies, he noted, are being careful.
“But almost every hiring announcement we’ve seen in the last three years is smaller and more surgical than the pre-pandemic playbook. Even if the big names come in at last year’s numbers, the total will likely fall well short of the 2019–2021 peaks,” he added.
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