Dive Brief:

• Job hunters looking for permanent or seasonal work during the holidays can expect to see an uptick in both openings and pay in Q4 2017, according to CareerBuilder’s Q4 2017 Job Forecast. Harris Poll surveyed 3,697 full-time workers and 2,257 hiring managers and HR professionals across industries in the private sector.
• Highlights from the study show that 43% of employers plan to hire full-time, permanent employees in Q4, up from 34% in 2016. In addition, 73% plan to raise wages, 35% anticipate hiring seasonal workers in Q4 (up from 33% last year) and 51% plan to raise wages for seasonal workers.
• Employers across industries are ready to pay more for seasonal talent. Among those bringing on seasonal hires, 45% will pay $15 an hour or more. The top positions for seasonal staff are ​customer service (38%), accounting/finance (24%), ​administrative/clerical support (22%), ​technology (18%) and shipping and delivery (15%).

Dive Insight:

Employers have been filling an average 604,000 seasonal jobs each year since 2012, according to a Challenger, Gray & Christmas analyst. With the U.S. near (if not at, as some might argue) full employment, filling jobs should be challenging for employers, but higher pay and flexible work options could attract more applicants than expected.

Retail jobs make up the bulk of openings, says Challenger, Gray & Christmas. But seasonal hiring in transportation and warehousing has increased by 8% between 2015 and 2016, adding about 20,000 jobs. E-commerce, led by giants Amazon and Walmart, could push up that number further. Retailers with both a brick-and-mortar and online presence stand to do well in hiring and sales.

Employers are rightfully reluctant to hire applicants who, according to CareerBuilder, don't take the interview seriously (42%), are unprofessional (38%) or seem more interested in getting a store discount than the work opportunity (29%). But employers might have to offer more flexible work hours to attract applicants. Today's applicants are looking for jobs with more flexibility, in some cases more than pay.

But recruiters can't afford to sit on the issue any longer. Now is the time to implement seasonal hiring plans, particularly if you're in retail.