BILLINGS — Boxes waiting to be unpacked, shelves that need stocking and holiday merchandise hitting store floors are signs that the busiest shopping season of the year is getting underway.
At Walmart in the Billings Heights area, employees were already moving pallets and stocking merchandise this week as stores prepare for the holiday rush.
The demand for seasonal workers also extends far beyond Billings.
Watch how the holiday shopping rush has challenged businesses here:
More than 431,000 seasonal positions have been announced across Amazon, UPS, Dick's Sporting Goods, Michaels and the U.S. Postal Service, according to Money.Com.
Thousands of additional openings are listed at companies including Walmart, Target, FedEx and Best Buy.
For smaller Billings businesses, the need for extra hands is already becoming apparent.
At the Joy of Living, sales lead Elise Borman started working at the store in August and is now experiencing her first holiday rush.
"It's just more people coming in and having bigger purchases and more items that they're getting," Borman said.
The increased traffic means employees have more customers to help while also ringing up purchases, wrapping gifts and keeping merchandise stocked.
The store is looking for at least a handful of part-time employees, particularly to help during its busiest days.
"Having two or three people on the floor helps because we can keep someone on register," Borman said. "We can have someone else wrapping so that there's not a bottleneck between bringing up a customer and then having to move into wrapping."
The need for holiday help extends into warehouses, package handling and delivery.
Mark Hardin, a business developer with Express Employment in Billings, said employers are looking for workers who can help meet increased seasonal workloads.
"For the most part, a driver's license and a will to work is all that employers are looking for at this time," Hardin said.
But while stores are already preparing for the holiday rush, Hardin said seasonal hiring in Billings has started more slowly than in previous years.
"This year's been a little bit weaker than years we've had in the past," Hardin said. "We haven't quite seen the push yet."
That local experience provides a contrast to some national hiring indicators.
An Express Employment Professionals-Harris Poll survey found 15% of U.S. hiring managers planned to add seasonal workers this fall, compared with 12% last year.
Thirty-eight percent of hiring managers said their companies planned to hire more seasonal employees than a year ago. [prnewswire.com]
When Billings employers do call looking for help, Hardin said the turnaround can be quick.
"They're usually looking for people to start the next day, at the latest, next week," Hardin said.
For some workers, taking a job during the holiday rush could also open the door to longer-term employment.
Hardin said Express Employment's goal is often to place workers with companies where there is an opportunity to stay beyond the initial assignment.
"Our goal is that the employee we send to work for that company becomes their full-time employee," Hardin said.
That trend is showing up nationally as well.
Eighty-seven percent of U.S. hiring managers surveyed by Express Employment Professionals and Harris Poll said they see seasonal jobs as a way to identify potential full-time hires.
Forty-four percent of companies that hire seasonally said finding workers who could eventually move into full-time positions is one reason for doing so. [prnewswire.com]
Back at the Joy of Living, the immediate focus is simply getting enough people on the floor as holiday shopping picks up.
Between helping customers, keeping shelves stocked and wrapping gifts, there is plenty of work to go around before the holiday rush reaches full speed.
