As holiday shopping approaches, seasonal hiring gives 'mixed signals,' experts say

On Oct. 20, Amazon said it plans to employ more than 300,000 full-time, part-time and seasonal workers ahead of the peak shopping period, according to a press release. In 2025, Amazon pledged 250,000 holiday jobs, marking a 20% increase in jobs.

UPS, one of the largest U.S. shipping companies, announced on Oct. 7 it would hire 100,000 seasonal employees in 2026, down nearly 10% from the company's 2025 holiday hiring target.

These announcements, together with fewer retailers providing recruitment headcounts ahead of the holidays are part of why experts say seasonal hiring is giving them "mixed signals," says Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

"I don't expect this to be an explosive seasonal hiring year like we saw in '21 and '22," Challenger tells CNBC Make It. Following Amazon's announcement, Challenger says "there's reason to be a little bit more positive than we originally thought."

Seasonal job postings as of Sept. 30, 2026 surpassed 2025 levels during the same period, according to an Oct. 15 report from Indeed Hiring Lab, the job board's economic research wing. Experts say non-retail jobs are driving the growth.

Indeed's report found that seasonal hiring in 2026, as measured by the number of job postings, is up 10% from 2025. Researchers scrubbed Indeed and other job boards for seasonal jobs, which they define as roles with at least one holiday-related descriptor in the title. Indeed director of economic research Laura Ullrich tells CNBC Make It that the data reflects "a large percentage of jobs" — even those whose companies did not pay Indeed to upload their openings on the site.

While many retailers have been silent about their seasonal hiring plans, "We've seen some positive additions," Challenger said of Amazon's hiring plans. "We did see UPS is down a little bit. Exporting goods is down a little bit."

The new retail seasonal hiring strategy

Retail has long dominated seasonal hiring, but its stronghold has faltered. In 2019, jobs in retail accounted for around 66% of all seasonal roles, according to Indeed. Today, retail adds 61% of all seasonal work opportunities. 

Loading and stocking roles, which accounted for 3.5% of seasonal hiring posts in 2019, now represent 9% of all holiday job listings as of Sept. 30, 2026. The warehouse category is the fastest-growing among retail, sales, customer service, transportation and food preparation, according to Indeed. 

As for individual roles, the five most in-demand, non-retail titles include customer service representative, unloader, delivery driver, photographer and stocker, the Indeed report found.

Experts at Indeed say the shift in seasonal hiring reflects how e-commerce has reshaped holiday shopping. The share of Americans who shop online is up to 87%, according to data from the Statista Research Department, and experts forecast e-commerce retail sales growth of 6% every year until 2030.

Bain & Company projects a $1 trillion breakthrough in holiday retail sales across the U.S. in 2026, a historic first boosted by inflation. Challenger says the figure "doesn't necessarily mean more sales or more revenue or profit."

Instead, the forecast shows that while the high cost of necessities like food and gas are changing consumer habits, inflation "hasn't totally dampened consumers' expectations of participating in shopping this holiday season," Challenger explains.

To prepare for the holiday season, retailers are posting more permanent part-time jobs in place of seasonal roles, says Ullrich. 

Non-seasonal, part-time roles accounted for 38% of retail jobs in September 2025, and today make up 49% of the holiday retail job market. Seasonal roles accounted for just 20% of retailers' overall holiday job posts in September 2026, a decline from the same period in 2025.

In response to sales forecasts, retailers have taken different approaches to seasonal hiring. Spirit Halloween said it would hire 52,000 employees on June 11 and Michaels plans to onboard over 10,000 workers for the holidays. Per Target's website, the company said it would lean on its existing workforce before looking for seasonal hires. The big-box store did not announce headcounts.

Ullrich sees the trend to hire more permanent employees across retail "as a positive" and says retailers "realize they need more employees on a permanent basis."

More people are searching for seasonal jobs

Seasonal work is also in high demand for job seekers. Desktop searches for seasonal and holiday terms are up 28% in 2026 against 2025 search data on Indeed, a sign that workers hope to earn extra cash before the year concludes.

An Indeed report from June 9 found that 16% of active job seekers already hold multiple jobs. On average, workers with multiple jobs tripled their application volume in the month leading up to landing their second role. 

Workers with service jobs, characterized by high turnover rates and inconsistent scheduling, are the most likely to hold another job. Among active job seekers, Food preparation workers make up the largest share, 17%, looking for additional employment.