Seasonal employment: a first look

We'll be taking snapshots in the coming weeks of seasonal employment trends around Minnesota. We're used to seeing lots of temporary jobs available this time of year through the winter holidays.

11/18 UPDATE: Here's a story from my MPR colleague Annie Baxter on the temp market and its mixed blessing for workers.

We know this could be a very tough season for retailers and other businesses that depend on consumers and companies spending.

We checked in first with Accountemps and OfficeTeam in Minneapolis. Those are units of the staffing and temp employment giant Robert Half International that focus on back-office and administrative help for businesses. Susan Thomas, Minneapolis branch manager, wrote:

Temporary hiring for administrative staff has been increasing as morale has been an issue.

Companies want to hire to cover staff on vacations as they too are running lean, and don't want to deny vacations and damage morale... they do not want to miss any sales or fail to take advantage of opportunities.

We are also seeing an uptick as it relates to the cold and flu season. This has always been a seasonal need, as people inevitably come down with winter ailments, and companies need people to fill in.

Tax hiring has always been strong seasonally, but this year has even more interest due to how lean CPA firms have had to operate.

Nationally, job openings so far this fall remain at record lows.

A survey by the National Federation of Independent Business found one nine percent of its members expecting to create new jobs in the next few months.

***********************************************

Are you doing any temporary hiring through the winter holidays? Or are you searching for a temp job? Post below or contact me directly and tell me what you're seeing.

• Mpls. Fed chief: More inflation could aid economy
• Target solved its payment security issues, but couldn’t solve Canada
• Twin Cities home prices up 10 percent