Holiday hiring is down nationally, but opportunities remain strong in the Triangle
The holiday season remains the busiest time of the year for retailers even during a virus-ridden recession year and employers are beginning the rush of holiday hiring.
Job postings and trends point to a significant amount of seasonal or full-time hiring in the Triangle area as unemployment in North Carolina falls to its lowest rate since the onset of COVID-19.
“While the pandemic and related restrictions on small businesses have severely limited full-time jobs across North Carolina, there is still a demand for workers,” said Gregg Thompson, North Carolina director for the National Federation of Independent Business, in a news release. “We are seeing a need for part-time workers, especially during the upcoming holiday sales season, and there is a critical shortage of skilled workers in construction.”
Holiday hiring is trending shorter this year compared to past years according to hiring site Indeed, but seasonal loading, stocking and warehouse jobs are booming nationally as the pandemic shifts consumer habits.
Amazon is one of the largest employers hiring for these jobs. The company announced recently that it would hire 100,000 people for seasonal jobs to meet the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday retail rush.
At least 2,800 of those seasonal jobs are in North Carolina and about 1,400 will be in Wake and Durham counties, a spokesperson told The News & Observer. The company has already been hiring for jobs at its Garner facility and a new Amazon delivery facility in Cary, The N&O previously reported.
The hiring follows the company’s increased demand during the coronavirus pandemic, which led it to begin hiring some 100,000 people at the start of the pandemic in March.
Local hiring trends
Robert Half, an international accounting and finance staffing agency, surveyed nearly 3,000 companies with more than 20 employees in major cities and their surrounding areas, including Raleigh.
Its survey in the Raleigh area, shared with The N&O, found that one in three employers said they have planned to add full-time staff since the summer. Half of local companies said they would fill job vacancies by year-end.
Some of the other highlights from that survey:
▪ 71% of Raleigh companies have added fully remote jobs since the start of the pandemic.
▪ 58% shortened the length of hiring processes and increased temporary hires.
▪ 54% have broadened their job candidate search geographically.
“We’ve seen a huge uptick in tech hiring. I think it has to do with a lot of e-commerce with the COVID environment and people a little more reluctant to go out in public and do their shopping,” said Kendall Strickland, the Raleigh branch manager for Robert Half.
The second-biggest increase is in customer service jobs, which “goes hand-in-hand with what we see a lot of times during the holiday season. As we wrap up the year, we always see an uptick there.”
The rest of jobs are mainly in administrative support, creative positions, marketing, and accounting and finance, which are typical for companies seeking to meet demand or complete projects before the year’s end.
“We’re looking at two different factors, COVID or just typical seasonal help,” said Strickland. “In the area we live, we should feel fortunate to still continue to see growth. Now ... it depends on the industry.”
Local warehouse hiring
The majority of seasonal jobs rising nationally are warehouse jobs, which have tripled in number to a figure even larger than before the pandemic, according to Bloomberg News.
The Body Shop, a global beauty retailer with a facility in Wake Forest, has filled half of over 200 of these jobs in time to meet strong e-commerce demand as part of a new hiring program with staffing firm Hire Dynamics. It is looking to fill vacancies through Black Friday.
The Body Shop’s “Inclusive Hiring” program focuses on “a candidate’s potential rather than their past,” said local human resources manager Jennifer Wale, in an email.
Its process got rid of screenings like background checks and drug screenings, as well as requirements for speaking English, formal education or previous experience. Its practices include drive-thru job fairs to access candidates more easily.
The Body Shop simply requires legal work permissions, plus the ability to lift up to 50 pounds and stand for eight hours a day.
“Since implementing Inclusive Hiring our candidate pool has grown tremendously,” said Wale. “We found the talent to be loyal, engaged, dedicated, and very appreciative of the opportunity they would not have been given through more traditional recruiting methods.”
The results include significantly reducing turnover in 2019, the year the program began, from 2018. Training costs have fallen because they have retained staff through the holiday season, Wale said.
In the long term, trends show there will be more permanent hiring this year as companies seek to retain workers as they recover from COVID-19 shock, according to a report by AnnElizabeth Konkel, an analyst at Indeed.
“The shift toward permanent hiring is good news for job seekers because these positions are likely to carry through into next year,” Konkel said.
