Christmas vacancies arrive late and attract huge interest

The recent hiring spree by employers, which saw the number of festive jobs advertised rise by 202 per cent in the first 11 days of October alone, comes a full month later than normal. Christmas recruitment typically begins in earnest in late August.

Employers are likely to find no shortage of applicants. Indeed’s analysis showed that job seekers have regarded seasonal jobs as particularly attractive since lockdown was declared.

In every month from March to July, Christmas vacancies received a higher share of clicks from job seekers than the average job, with interest levels consistently higher than they were during the equivalent months in 2018 and 2019.

Jack Kennedy, UK economist at Indeed, said: “For years it has felt like Christmas was getting earlier and earlier, but not in 2020, when the festive hiring boom began more than a month later than normal.

“With unemployment now at its highest level for three years, festive roles will be a lifeline for the 1.5 million people who are already out of work, and many more who are facing redundancy.

“At times this year a third of all retail spending has been online, and many of us are likely to do much of our Christmas shopping on the internet. Despite this, the number of retail roles being advertised is holding up well compared to 2019, and there has been an increase in the number of driving jobs to reflect the need for more deliveries.”

He said recruitment in the food sector is lagging behind previous years, as the expected absence of Christmas parties means there is little demand for seasonal staff at restaurants and bars.

“Although hiring has started later this year, we still expect demand to peak in November as normal, so it is important that anyone looking to land a Christmas job starts applying as soon as possible,” he concluded.

In May, seasonal roles were clicked on nine times more frequently than non-festive jobs. By contrast, during the same month in 2019, festive roles received just four times more clicks than non-seasonal jobs.

Since coronavirus restrictions tightened in September, job seeker demand for seasonal roles has surpassed 2019 and 2018 levels.