Key points:

  • Hiring for the seasonal peak is picking up, though still pacing behind previous years.
  • Jobseeker searches for Christmas jobs are the highest for this time of year since at least 2018. 
  • This combination of softer hiring demand and strong jobseeker interest suggests filling these roles may be easier this year. 

Holiday hiring — which typically begins in August, gathers pace through the autumn and peaks in November as employers prepare for the busy Christmas season — is officially underway, and trending lower than years past. Meanwhile, jobseeker interest in seasonal work is higher than in recent years, suggesting employers may find it easier to fill these roles this season. 

Hiring for the holiday season is ramping up 

Employer demand for workers ahead of the Christmas period is picking up momentum. As of 11 October, 0.7% of all jobs published on Indeed in the UK were holiday jobs. However, Christmas hiring is currently running softer than at the same point in 2023 (down 12%). In fact, of the previous four years analysed, 2022 was the only one with a lower seasonal hiring share at this point in the calendar (2020 was excluded from this analysis because of pandemic-related labour market distortions). Back then, employers had already been hiring intensively throughout the post-pandemic labour market rebound and perhaps didn’t need to push as hard as usual on their seasonal hiring efforts. 

Prospects for the key retail trading period appear slightly mixed this autumn, with consumer confidence dropping ahead of anticipated tax rises in the new government’s upcoming budget. But other data suggest resilience in retail spending in recent months, which could yet translate into a decent holiday period for retailers. 

Line chart titled "UK Christmas hiring sluggish so far this year" shows the UK seasonal hiring trend in 2024 versus 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. With an x-axis ranging left to right from January to December and a y-axis ranging vertically from 0.0 to 1.0 (signifying seasonal postings as a share of all postings on Indeed, UK) the graph shows that seasonal hiring is ramping up, though still pacing behind the same point in 2023.  
Line chart titled “UK Christmas hiring sluggish so far this year” shows the UK seasonal hiring trend in 2024 versus 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. With an x-axis ranging left to right from January to December and a y-axis ranging vertically from 0.0 to 1.0 (signifying seasonal postings as a share of all postings on Indeed, UK) the graph shows that seasonal hiring is ramping up, though still pacing behind the same point in 2023.  

Jobseeker interest is strong

In contrast to sluggish postings, jobseeker searches for seasonal roles are pacing well so far this year. As of 11 October, searches for Christmas jobs represented 0.7% of all UK searches on Indeed, up 24% on the previous year. In fact, seasonal searches are pacing stronger than in any of the previous four years included in this analysis. Though inflation has come down from peaks, household finances remain stretched following substantial increases in living costs over the past couple years. These pressures may be pushing more people to consider temporary holiday work to earn some extra money to help them through what is typically an expensive time of year. 

Line chart titled "Searches for UK Christmas jobs are strong this year" shows the trend in seasonal job searches in 2024 versus 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. With an x-axis ranging left to right from January to December and a y-axis ranging vertically from 0.00 to 1.00 (noting the seasonal searches as a share of all searches on Indeed, UK) the graph shows that searches for seasonal work are ramping up and running stronger than in recent years.  
Line chart titled “Searches for UK Christmas jobs are strong this year” shows the trend in seasonal job searches in 2024 versus 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. With an x-axis ranging left to right from January to December and a y-axis ranging vertically from 0.00 to 1.00 (noting the seasonal searches as a share of all searches on Indeed, UK) the graph shows that searches for seasonal work are ramping up and running stronger than in recent years.  

Conclusion

Employers are gearing up ahead of the traditionally busy Christmas trading period, though the seasonal ramp-up has been sluggish so far compared with recent years. That may reflect caution among some employers amid an uncertain economic climate. Filling the roles may be easier this year from an employers’ point of view, with jobseeker interest in seasonal work running particularly strong this year. Of course, that could also mean greater competition than usual to find a seasonal job for those candidates who are looking for one. 

Methodology

We define seasonal job postings as those with one or more holiday-related terms in the job title, including, but not limited to, “holiday,” “seasonal,” and “Christmas.” Seasonal job searches are defined as those containing one or more of the same list of holiday-related terms.