Seasonal jobs have more promise this year

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CHICAGO, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. holiday shopping season is shaping up as one that holds significantly more opportunities for employment than in recent years, CareerBuilder said.

Not only are more retailers indicating they plan to hire, but more are indicating they will pay higher wages and offer new hires permanent positions, a survey sponsored by CareerBuilder and conducted by Harris Interactive found.

This year, 36 percent of respondents to a survey of retailers indicated they planned to hire extra help for the holidays, a strong jump from 29 percent in 2011, CareerBuilder said.

In addition, 62 percent indicated they expected to pay at least $10 per hour, up from 53 percent in 2011 and 22 percent indicated they would pay at least $16 per hour, up from 14 percent in 2011.

CareerBuilder also said 39 percent of respondents indicated some of their new hires would be offered full time, permanent position, a gain of nine percentage points from 2011.

That doesn't mean sit around and wait. Most of the seasonal hiring decisions are made in October, the firm said in a statement. And those who want a permanent job still have to stand out from the rest of the crowd.

CareerBuilder said sales jobs were not the most frequently mentioned by respondents to the survey, which was conducted Aug. 13 through Sept. 6 and included 2,494 responses.

Hospitality and administrative jobs were listed by 15 percent of the respondents, while shipping and delivery positions were listed by 14 percent.

Accounting and finance, inventory management, technology and sales were listed between 7 percent and 9 percent of the time, with sales jobs at the lower end of the scale.

"An increase in consumer confidence is helping to fuel the best seasonal hiring the United States has seen in recent years," said CareerBuilder Chief Executive Officer Matt Ferguson.

"While the bulk of seasonal recruitment falls within the retail space, companies across industries are hiring for a wide range of positions to support their business operations as they wrap up the year," he said.

Harris Interactive said that there was a 95 percent probability that the survey results included a sampling error of plus and minus less than 2 percentage points.