A file variety of job seekers has led to a droop in vacation employment throughout the UK and different nations. Photograph credit score: Bing HAO, through Unsplash
With Halloween simply days away and the Christmas season quick approaching, job search platform Certainly has launched statistics on seasonal job searches. Curiosity in vacation jobs is rising significantly, however discovering them is turning into more and more troublesome. Searches for seasonal jobs are at their highest since Certainly started monitoring in 2018.
Seasonal searches soar, however alternatives decline
In accordance with Certainly, normal searches for seasonal jobs have been up 27 % on the finish of September in comparison with 2024 and 50 % above 2023 ranges, whereas the variety of jobs elevated by simply 2.7 %. Solely 2.1% of seasonal job postings talked about emergency hiring, down from 10% in 2021 amid the post-pandemic job market growth.
UK: Life is barely higher, however nonetheless combating for additional revenue
Within the UK, for instance, searches for Christmas-related jobs on Certainly’s UK web site on October 3 accounted for 0.8% of all searches, up from 0.62% in 2024 and representing an total enhance of 29%. Nonetheless, the UK fares higher than different nations in relation to seasonal jobs. As of the identical date, 0.58% of all jobs posted on Certainly within the UK have been vacation postings, up from 0.5% in 2024. This can be a 16% enhance over the earlier yr.
Retail jobs are on the high of the seasonal job listing
Retail presently ranks on the high of the market in relation to seasonal employment, with 63% of seasonal employment falling beneath the retail commerce as of September 30, 2025. (This quantity is in step with previous years, as retail jobs sometimes account for two-thirds of seasonal alternatives). These kinds of jobs will be key for unemployed residents seeking to get again into the job market. Nonetheless, the less necessities a job posting has for candidates, the more durable the competitors, and many candidates searching for seasonal jobs do not fare properly in any respect.
Within the UK, the highest 10 Christmas jobs additionally embrace a major variety of retail jobs, together with seasonal staff, gross sales assistants and retail gross sales associates.
Different seasonal job openings embrace positions in gross sales, hospitality, driving, loading and unloading, and meals preparation and repair. Availability additionally relies on whether or not the job seeker is searching for part-time or full-time employment.
Vacation job market: Extra competitors than final yr
Moreover, a really low variety of job openings could point out that the job market is presently in a extreme supply-demand imbalance and that the urgency to rent is lowering. In 2021, it was a lot tougher for firms to draw employees.
“This year-end hiring season is prone to be extra aggressive for job seekers because the variety of job openings decreases and employee curiosity will increase,” stated Cory Stahl, senior economist at Certainly, in a publish analyzing Certainly’s statistics.
The UK labor market stays depressed, in line with Certainly and the Workplace for Nationwide Statistics. In accordance with the latter, the unemployment price for over-16s within the UK totaled 4.8% within the three months to August 2025. That is up from 4.7% in July 2025.
Job seekers who’re forward of the curve
For many individuals, the surge in job searches will come as no shock. The vacation season brings merriment, togetherness, and celebration, however it additionally brings with it appreciable expense. In lots of locations, together with the UK, the place the price of dwelling has risen in recent times, many individuals are scrambling to discover a second or third supply of revenue.
Statistics present that job seekers are additionally making use of for positions sooner than final yr in an effort to remain forward of the competitors. The variety of searches for seasonal jobs will increase step by step from August to October, and will increase considerably in November. This yr, the surge occurred as early as the top of September.
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