Holiday-Season Hiring Surge: 2026 Trends and Outlook

In October, Amazon disclosed plans to add more than 300,000 full-time, part-time and seasonal workers for the upcoming peak shopping period, a 20 % rise over its 2025 pledge. UPS, one of the nation’s largest shippers, said it will bring on 100,000 seasonal employees, roughly a 10 % decline from its 2025 target. Retailers are responding unevenly: Spirit Halloween intends to hire 52,000 workers on June 11, while Michaels will onboard over 10,000 staff for the holidays. Target, by contrast, indicated it will rely primarily on its existing workforce rather than announcing new headcounts.

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Indeed’s hiring-lab analysis shows that non-retail positions are now driving seasonal growth. Warehouse roles are expanding fastest among categories such as retail, sales, customer service, transportation and food preparation. The five most in-demand non-retail titles are customer-service representative, unloader, delivery driver, photographer and stocker. Retail’s share of all seasonal roles has slipped from about 66 % in 2019 to 61 % in 2026, while permanent part-time positions now comprise 49 % of holiday retail listings, up from 38 % a year earlier.

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• Amazon: >300,000 seasonal hires announced.

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• UPS: 100,000 seasonal hires announced.

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• Indeed job postings for seasonal work are up 10 % year-over-year.

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• Seasonal postings accounted for 20 % of retailers’ holiday job ads in September 2026, down from the same period in 2025.

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• Desktop searches for “seasonal” and “holiday” terms rose 28 % in 2026 versus 2025.

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• An Indeed report dated June 9 found that 16 % of active job seekers already hold multiple jobs; those workers triple their application volume when seeking a second role.

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• Among active seekers, food-preparation workers represent the largest share (17 %) looking for additional employment.

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Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, described the hiring outlook as “mixed signals,” noting that the market is unlikely to match the explosive seasonal hiring seen in 2021-22 but that Amazon’s plan adds a modestly more optimistic tone. Laura Ullrich, director of economic research at Indeed, said the data reflects a large percentage of jobs, including those posted without paid placement, and viewed the shift toward permanent part-time roles as a positive adjustment by retailers. Challenger also cautioned that higher holiday-sales forecasts do not automatically translate into higher profits, emphasizing that inflation-driven cost pressures are reshaping consumer expectations without fully dampening holiday participation.

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Spirit Halloween’s scheduled June 11 hiring drive for 52,000 workers and Michaels’ plan to add over 10,000 staff signal continued demand for seasonal labor, even as some large retailers lean on existing employees to meet holiday needs.

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