Key Points:
- At the end of August, 1.6% of Australian job postings mentioned Christmas in their job title — similar to last year, despite otherwise subdued retail conditions.
- Jobseeker interest in these Christmas opportunities remains above normal levels, possibly reflecting cost-of-living concerns. At the end of August, 1.0% of job searches on Indeed were for Christmas work, up from 0.9% last year.
- The retail sector dominates Christmas job creation, with prominent department stores, clothing and jewelry brands at the forefront.
Despite a challenging economic environment, Christmas job postings in Australia are pacing similarly to last year, suggesting retailers remain optimistic heading into their busiest time of year. And luckily for retailers, there are a lot of jobseekers actively pursuing these Christmas opportunities.
This optimism from retailers is surprising given the challenges facing the retail industry. While higher prices continue to drive up retail spending, retail volumes have declined for the past two years, down 0.6% over the past year and 2.0% from their peak in the June quarter 2022. In other words, retailers are pushing fewer goods out the door, typically leading to reduced staffing needs.
However, the disconnect between current retail conditions and Christmas hiring can perhaps be explained by the fact that many retailers are still operating with fewer employees than desired. The job vacancy rate across the industry (2.2% of all jobs) is still 65% above its pre-pandemic average. Even with reduced sales, the industry still needs more workers to support widespread hiring in the lead-up to Christmas.
Christmas recruitment started in July
By the end of August, job postings featuring keywords such as ‘Christmas’ or ‘Xmas’ in their job title accounted for 1.6% of all Australian job postings on Indeed, practically identical to both 2022 and 2023. And in October of last year, Christmas-related job postings peaked at almost 3% of all job postings.
In recent years, Australian employers have started advertising earlier than usual. The first Christmas jobs now appear in July before ramping up further in August. With the unemployment rate still low (4.2%) and job vacancies elevated, this could reflect strong competition for talent. It also might be in response to the growing popularity of American-style ‘Black Friday’ sales in November, which spur earlier Christmas spending.
This year, Christmas-related job postings reached three times their June quarter average on 25 July — the first time this has occurred before August — and five times their average by 5 August. In both cases, much earlier than in previous years. However, that gap closed, at least compared to last year, over the second half of August.
Jobseekers are more active this year
Searches for Christmas work usually peak later than job postings, often towards the end of November (compared to October for job postings). This year, jobseeker searches for Christmas work are slightly above last year’s levels and significantly higher than in 2021 and 2022. At the end of August, 1.0% of searches on Indeed were for Christmas jobs, compared to 0.9% last year, and 0.6% and 0.7% in 2022 and 2021, respectively.
So far, search volumes appear to be a few days ahead of last year’s schedule and at least a few weeks ahead of search trends in 2021 and 2022.
Who is hiring this year?
While Christmas job opportunities are heavily concentrated in the retail sector, a spending frenzy can spill over to other parts of the economy. A day-long shopping spree isn’t complete without meals, snacks and refreshments, creating food service roles. School holidays create youth-related jobs at holiday camps and activities, while holiday travel boosts hiring in the hospitality sector. And don’t forget that all those toys, clothes and other gifts don’t magically appear on shelves, they must be first delivered to stores from warehouses, creating jobs in transport and logistics.
As for the biggest Christmas employers, they tend to be similar from year-to-year, and this year is no different. In 2024, the top employers for Christmas jobs included department stores, major clothing brands and jewelers.
Conclusion
Overall, the demand for Christmas workers remains strong this year, despite the retail sector’s struggles. The good news for recruiters is that this demand is matched by higher-than-usual interest from jobseekers, as cost-of-living pressures may be driving more Australians to seek extra hours during what inevitably becomes the most expensive time of year.
Methodology
We define Christmas job postings as those with one or more holiday-themed terms in the job title, including, but not limited to, ‘Christmas,’ ‘Xmas’ and ‘holiday.’ Seasonal job searches are defined as those containing one or more of the same list of holiday-related terms.
