Dive Brief:

• Prospective seasonal workers in a new survey said they favor flexible schedules and as many hours as possible over higher pay, according to a new report from Bluecrew, an on-demand staffing platform, and Toluna, a consumer intelligence platform. In fact, having the highest pay was among job seekers' least favored criteria.
• After flexible work hours and having as many work hours as possible, seasonal employees said they'd take "a good company" or "great atmosphere" over discounts, a longer employment, benefits and preferred location. The report also showed that seasonal opportunities already are in high demand, with most job seekers looking for work by October and most planning to work more than one job.
• "As the competition for quality workers continues to increase, employers that want to attract the best and brightest need to understand how the employment landscape is changing and what workers are really looking for," said Adam Roston, Bluecrew CEO, in a media release. "The Bluecrew 2019 Holiday Hiring Report reveals that above all else, holiday workers want the flexibility to work when they want and as much as they can."

Dive Insight:

Holiday hiring is in full swing, with many employers planning to increase headcount more than they did last year.

But if Bluecrew's findings are right, employers may be missing some important items in the employee value proposition. While major retailers are hoping to lure talent with attractive pay rates, such offerings may not reach their full potential without flexibility and "a great atmosphere" behind them. As a survey by workplace communication company Speakap revealed, employers are hiring temporary workers but doing little to engage them. Managers may believe that workers' short time on staff leaves little time for engagement, but HR knows that temporary workers can become year-round employees or make excellent candidates for next year's busy season. In these cases, efforts to engage short-term workers can have long-term advantages for employers, such as widening the talent pool of qualified, reliable workers.

With the tight labor market still humming, employers not yet done with holiday hiring may need to step up their efforts to compete for seasonal talent. Experts suggest that holiday recruiting begin in August. "Starting to recruit workers for the holiday season early means you're more likely to build a relationship with them, which is incredibly important when it comes to retaining workers through such a competitive time," Beatrice Pang, VP of strategy and finance at Wonolo, previously told HR Dive.