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Seeking out the benefits of ‘Holiday Hiring’
Editorial by Christian Saint Cyr
National Director / Canadian Job Development Network
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The nature of holiday hiring runs contrary to the essence of what we are trying to do in career development. Regardless of whether you are working in co-operative education, a government-funded employment program or attempting to develop a part-time employment opportunity for someone with a disability, in all cases we are looking for sustainable, long-lasting employment opportunities.
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The concept of 'holiday hiring' ensures people are only able to secure employment for a short time, running from the fall into the new year. Inevitably, the majority of workers get layoff notices in the new year and find themselves returning to job search.
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This can leave us questioning, as many job seekers do, whether pursuing short-term employment opportunities are worth it.
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In my opinion, the answer is, 'yes'. Temporary employment provides a number of benefits, each providing its own pathway to permanent employment.
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According to recruitment firm Cadient, "the percentage of seasonal holiday employees retained as permanent staff varies widely by company and industry, but some employers convert as many as 35-40% to permanent positions. The overall retention rate in the retail industry, which heavily relies on seasonal staff, is often high due to the nature of the work."
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United Parcel Service has reported in past years that roughly 35 per cent of people in seasonal package-handling jobs end up transitioning to permanent positions.
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There is a stigma that goes along with unemployment. Either consciously or unconsciously, employers prefer to hire individuals who are already employed. Job search while working in a temporary position allows job seekers to demonstrate their employability.
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And while there is a stigma associated with unemployment, the longer a candidate is unemployed, the more this stigma grows. Obtaining a temporary position allows an individual to reset the clock on their unemployment, bringing their resume up to the current period.
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Temporary jobs, like permanent jobs, provide current skills and experience that will impress an employer. The value of skills and experience earned on the job is exponentially more valuable than those earned in a classroom setting.
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As I've often noted, when I used to hire career professionals, I would hire for career development training and/or experience, but if I had to choose one, I'd choose experience.
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The skills a worker develops in a temporary job demonstrates they can do the work necessary.
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Seasonal jobs can provide a work experience, references, networking opportunities, new skills, contributions towards Employment Insurance and a renewed sense of confidence that is so valuable in securing long-term employment.
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Clearly, temporary positions provide a valuable pathway to secure employment but holiday jobs are getting increasingly more difficult to secure. According to new research from Indeed Hiring Lab, while seasonal employment ticked up slightly this year, it's down from previous years.
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As of November 4th, Canadian seasonal job postings on Indeed — roles with terms including “seasonal,” “holiday,” and “Christmas” in their job titles — were up 12% from a year earlier. Demand for these workers isn’t particularly robust compared to earlier years, with holiday job postings down by 8% and 35% compared to where they stood at this time in 2023 and 2022, respectively. Nonetheless, the break in the downward trend is still good news for those seeking temporary employment around year-end.
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Indeed notes, the decline in seasonal postings from 2022 to 2024 was part of the broader cooling of employer hiring appetite following the pandemic. However, over that two-year period, the overall share of jobs that were explicitly seasonal held steady, as both holiday and total postings fell similarly.
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As the labour market has softened in recent years, the share of job seeker searches on Indeed containing seasonally related phrases has increased. In early November 2025, 3.1 per 1,000 Canadian job searches included one of these terms, up slightly from 2024, and more substantially from the 2.5 and 2.2 per 1,000 rates in November 2023 and 2022, respectively.
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Overall, seasonal employment is down from three years ago, but more people are looking for seasonal jobs.
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It would be easy to look at these trends and surmise that seasonal hiring is simply down because more consumers are buying online. Indeed notes that while this trend was more pronounced a decade ago, e-commerce has stabilized averaging just six per cent of purchases and hasn't changed much in recent years. The majority of shoppers prefer an in-person experience for most purchases.
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This leaves us looking to how we can coach individuals to excel in the temporary position. In a policy document for employers, Randstad outlines the benefits and drawbacks of hiring seasonal help.
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According to Randstad, the benefits of seasonal workers includes:
- flexibility, letting you scale your workforce up or down based on need
- access to specialized skills
- less intensive hiring process
- more cost-effective than hiring permanent staff
- opportunities to ‘test out’ potential additions to the permanent roster
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The disadvantages they noted included:
- lower rates of engagement and loyalty
- limited time to train and onboard
- reduced retention and related knowledge loss
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The benefits clearly demonstrate that seasonal hiring provides opportunities for workers to get hired when they might not otherwise be considered. It's essentially an on-the-job trial where a person can demonstrate their hard work and commitment.
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If I were advising a job seeker who wanted to turn a temporary position into a permanent position, I would suggest they seek every opportunity they can to counter the perceived drawbacks of temporary employees,
- through arriving early, showing keen interest and adopting the company culture, demonstrating both engagement and loyalty;
- actively engage in learning, read about the company through the website; seek the support of permanent colleagues and take initiative; and
- articulate an interest in staying with the company beyond the holiday season and bringing subject matter expertise to the role.
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We're obviously late in the winter holiday season to pursue employment at this point, but I would encourage you to consider this with all seasonal employment such as those associated with agriculture, tourism and summer breaks.
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The skills and experience we gain early in our career have shaped each of us and even a temporary role can be tremendously transformative for our clients and students.
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We’ll be discussing the benefits or temporary employment in more detail at our #MotivatingMondays meeting of the Canadian Job Development Network, Monday November 24th at 8:30am Pacific; 9:30am Mountain; 10:30am Central; 11:30am Eastern; 12:30pm Atlantic and at 1pm in Newfoundland.
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On the morning of Monday November 24th 'Click this Link' to join the session LIVE.
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'2025 Labour Market
Year-in-Review Workshops'
Registration Closes Thursday
(November 27th)
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Registration is closing this Thursday for our Labour Market Year-in-Review workshops, taking place respectively in British Columbia and Ontario.
To learn more:
BC Workshop Link | Nov. 28th / Dec. 1st
or
Ontario Workshop Link | Dec. 5th and 8th
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