Key points:
- With hiring ahead of the holiday period well underway in Ireland, seasonal postings are pacing slightly behind previous years.
- But while postings are relatively low, jobseeker searches for Christmas roles are higher than in recent years. Filling seasonal roles may therefore be easier for employers this year compared to past holiday seasons.
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 well underway in Ireland. But while seasonal job postings are pacing behind previous years, the opposite is true for candidate interest.
Seasonal hiring is muted so far
Christmas hiring has made a fast start. As of 25 October, 1% of all jobs published on Indeed in Ireland were holiday jobs. However, seasonal hiring is currently down 3% from 2023 and below the same point in any year since 2019 (2020 was excluded from this analysis because of pandemic-related labour market distortions). Subdued hiring may reflect caution among Irish employers on prospects for seasonal spending, though they will hope that recently announced Budget 2025 measures that seek to address cost of living pressures will lead to improved consumer sentiment.
Jobseeker interest is strong
While the supply of seasonal jobs appears somewhat limited compared to prior years, the supply of seasonal jobseekers looks positive. Searches for Christmas jobs as a share of all searches in Ireland are running at the strongest pace seen in recent years at around 0.5% currently – up 5% on 2023 levels. The usual expenses related to the holidays, combined with recent cost-of-living pressures, may be prompting more people to look for seasonal work this year compared to years past.
Conclusion
Ireland’s seasonal hiring ramp-up is a little sluggish this year, perhaps reflecting a cautious mood among employers. But there are still a few more weeks for it to catch up before we reach the peak. Employers will be encouraged to see healthy jobseeker interest, with searches up on previous years, as it may make it easier to find candidates this year compared to prior years. However, that also means candidates may see more competition to secure an opportunity to earn extra cash over the holiday period.
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.
