Seasonal hiring announcements from retailers in the United States have been limited so far and suggest a softer hiring spread before this year’s holiday season, according to executive outplacement firm Challenger, Grey & Christmas.
The hiring trends suggest retailers are hedging their bets on holiday sales activity. The outplacement and executive coaching firm expects seasonal retail hiring in 2025 to be the softest since the recession-hit season of 2009.
Last year, retailers added 543,100 jobs in the final quarter of 2024, down nearly 4% from 2023, as companies waited until late in the season to increase staff, according to Challenger. In 2025, Challenger projects retailers may add fewer than 500,000 positions during the final three months of the year, marking the smallest seasonal gain in 16 years.
Despite recent soft employment activity, Challenger noted that a late hiring push is possible if holiday sales build faster than anticipated.
