Retailers ramp up hiring, but some moderation expected for seasonal work

In an economy that has seen shifting indications of strength and softness, holiday season hiring is no different.

As major retailers and other businesses prepare for the end of the year, economists and industry watchers say hiring has slowed as companies watch their bottom lines and projected consumer spending for holiday shopping.

Even with some cautionary rhetoric, hiring activity is still on the forefront for retail and trade companies. Holiday shopping season is the busiest time of year for retailers, which have expanded promotional events to earlier and more digital-friendly commerce. Increased staffing can come in the form of sales clerks, warehouse workers, delivery drivers, customer service, IT support and other roles.

Retail giants like Amazon and Target said in early October that they planned to hire 250,000 and 100,000 workers, respectively, across U.S. operations — on par with 2023’s public plans.

In Las Vegas, seasonal job seekers may see more job openings in warehousing, transportation and trade and a moderation in retail temporary work.

David Schmidt, chief economist at the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, said that typically, the biggest hiring jumps are noticeable through changes from October to November in the seasonally unadjusted employment report.

Over the past 10 years but not including 2020 and 2021, the Las Vegas area added 2,300 jobs from September to October; 5,600 between October to November and 800 from November to December. The region increased its transportation, trade and utilities jobs by about 1.1 percent in September compared with one year earlier.

True measures of this year’s holiday season hiring trends won’t be known until mid-December, when November’s preliminary employment report is released, Schmidt said.

Nationally, economists are predicting a softer holiday season. As consumers tighten spending, U.S. retailers are projected to add 520,000 new jobs in the final quarter of 2024 compared with 564,200 in 2023, according to a Reuters report in September. The need for seasonal workers might fluctuate through the season.

In a Bank of America Global Research report published Friday, analysts said the nation’s October employment report added about 12,000 new jobs — a weaker than expected result. Hiring gains were brought down, in part, because of an ongoing Boeing strike and the impacts of hurricanes in the Southeast. Still, analysts say the report signaled that hiring has moderated and labor force participation rates ticked down.

“While distortions certainly played a role in the weakness, hiring activity does appear to be decelerating. Negative revisions returned after a brief pause last month,” according to the report. “(A decline in labor force participation is) consistent with the idea that the tailwind to labor supply from hybrid/remote work has potentially peaked.”

Local hiring

In the Las Vegas area, data from previous month show a moderation in retail hiring, at the same time an increase in transportation and warehousing-related jobs. Schmidt said that could reflect the changing shopping habits — and extensive promotions — of consumers.

“On the one hand, it used to be that Black Friday felt more like a limited thing at certain department stores,” Schmidt said. “Now it’s like Black Friday is everywhere. I think there is some level of ramping up the effort to help support that because it’s a lot more widespread with Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.”

At least one major employer of transportation and warehouse roles in Southern Nevada said it’s still hiring. In early October, Amazon officials said they intended to hire 2,000 workers in Nevada to staff peak season.

“Amazon in Las Vegas is still hiring for seasonal roles to help us meet the needs of our customers during the holidays,” a spokesperson said Wednesday. “We’re offering competitive pay, flexible schedules, and great opportunities to join a team that delivers smiles across our community.”

Some human resource professionals say the moderated job market was noticed in September. Though September is most often the time when hiring often ramps up for the staffing agency Robert Half, the Las Vegas area was slower to start.

“I would say it’s probably mid-October where we started to see some more of those contract requests, some of those temporary requests come in,” Regional Director Damian Garcia said. “It feels like it’s in the past, and we’ve seen some good traction in the last four or five weeks.”

In a survey of 2,500 U.S. hiring managers, Robert Half — which helps businesses fill contract roles in administrative and customer support, technology, accounting and other verticals — found 66 percent of employers plan to bring on contractors and 52 percent are actively hiring for permanent positions to start the year fully staffed.

Garcia said in Las Vegas, the slow pickup for seasonal contractors was not drastic and could have related to the overall sense of the economy. Business clients that have since revved up their efforts include hospitality and ancillary companies.

“The seasonal leads aside, what we’re telling our clients now is now is the best time if you’re looking to add staff, or if you’re looking to maybe upgrade a team, add to a team, maybe go back to the role that’s been open,” Garcia said. “Do it now, because we’re going to have more competition come Jan. 1.”

Contact McKenna Ross at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on X.