Bringing on temporary help for the holidays has been more difficult for retailers this year than in the past, the Wall Street Journal reports.
There are several reasons for the hiring crunch. For one, the employment rate is at a relatively low 5 percent.
Also, retailers face more competition for workers nowadays from distribution centers and logistics companies, which are hiring more people because of the uptick in e-commerce, the Journal reports.
“Retailers, in general, are going to wind up paying more for their seasonal workforce than they have in the past, and probably more than they’re expecting,” says Joel Bines, co-head of consulting firm Alix Partners LLP’s retail practice, according to the newspaper.
Companies looking for seasonal help started recruiting earlier than ever this year — in some cases in August, the newspaper reports, citing data from Indeed.com.
In fact, the tight labor market may be more an issue of timing than lack of workers. The National Retail Federation says total seasonal hiring this year will be roughly in line with last year.
Read more at the Wall Street Journal.