Holiday Help for Small Businesses Not in the Cards


This 2016 small business holiday staffing trend shows that SMBs are unlikely to hire holiday help and are unlikely to be sought out by job seekers.

Millions of Americans are likely to find some part-time work around the holidays. Some stores and other companies have extra work and could use the temporary help.

Small businesses, for the most part, are not companies that are likely to be hiring these helpers this holiday season.

New data from Indeed.com shows that an overwhelming majority of job postings for holiday help are from larger companies. Small business jobs postings this time of year, specifically for holiday help, barely cracked the chart above.

2016 Small Business Holiday Staffing Trend

The data from Indeed.com shows that nearly 10,000 of every million job listings is from a larger company looking for holiday help. By comparison, small businesses struggle to reach 1,000 holiday job listings per million postings at Indeed.

And as the holidays inch closer, it’s more unlikely that small businesses will be looking for temporary or seasonal help.

“We’re in the final stretch of hiring for holiday and seasonal positions, and this is when it can be toughest for SMBs to find job candidates. There’s a real crunch in the market because so many big retailers are staffing up aggressively,” says Indeed’s Job Spotter Product Manager Ryan Arroyo.

And Indeed has found that small businesses are more likely to be overlooked this time of year by job seekers.

Arroyo adds, “Job seekers know their brand and may job search for them by name. What we’ve found with Job Spotter is that companies who get their “We’re Hiring” or “Help Wanted” signs online are really able to bring in a bigger pool of local job candidates during a tough hiring time.”

For small businesses that actually need holiday help on a temporary basis, these numbers should give you pause but shouldn’t be a deal breaker. If help’s needed, help’s needed. Just understand the search may be difficult.

Image: Indeed.com


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Joshua Sophy Joshua Sophy is the Editor for Small Business Trends and the Head of Content Partnerships. A journalist with 20 years of experience in traditional and online media, he is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. He founded his own local newspaper, the Pottsville Free Press, covering his hometown.

One Reaction
  1. Most will be contractual for it is just needed for the sudden influx of people because of the holidays.