3 Retail Recruitment Tips for the Holiday Season and New Year

Although analysts expect inflation to influence spending behaviors this year, shoppers still plan to spend an average of $1,638 on gifts, travel and entertainment, which is a 7 percent increase from 2023 and a 15 percent jump from 2022. Despite varying predictions for this holiday season, holiday hiring in the retail sector is expected to be as competitive as ever and uniquely impacted.

However, holiday hiring doesn’t just focus on recruiting anymore. Since the season runs from September through January to account for training and onboarding ahead of the busy holiday period and the holiday hangover return season 30 days following, retaining employees is also a critical focus. The good news is that if your company is using the right recruiting strategies, a positive candidate experience can help improve long-term employee retention.

Here are three tips for recruiting in retail for the 2024-2025 holiday season that will help boost available talent and retain it through the end of the season.

1. Recruit for retail with efficient job ad campaigns.

Recruiting for retail can be challenging, but efficient job ad campaigns can attract the right candidates. Knowing the demand and competition that brands are up against during the holiday season, these campaigns need clear, concise and appealing job descriptions that highlight key responsibilities and required skills. Job ads should clearly communicate expectations, company culture, benefits, and growth opportunities to entice motivated individuals ahead of the holiday season.

A significant portion of surveyed consumers (55 percent) state that job board ads directly impact their decision to apply, interview or join an organization. This data underscores the importance of effectively targeting and crafting ads for job boards, particularly when reaching out to specific job seekers. The right job ads combined with an effective campaign structure will lead to a more efficient hiring process.

HR and talent acquisition teams need to keep job boards up-to-date in real time and get creative to achieve the best results possible. Setting aside a small portion of the recruiting budget to experiment with which platforms garner the best visibility and engagement is a solid best practice. Regardless, if you haven’t started activating holiday hiring campaigns in the late summer months, you're behind schedule.

2. Leverage social media to own and promote original content.

Go beyond the job boards. If brands aren't leveraging social media channels for their holiday hiring efforts, they're at a significant disadvantage. Building original content with recruiting-centric content on social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and LinkedIn can help companies highlight employee stories and available positions. Creating engaging content (e.g., videos or testimonials from current employees) can attract potential candidates looking for a glimpse into the company’s culture, team dynamics, and work-life balance.

A strong employer brand is a key factor for enhancing the candidate experience, especially on social media. In recruitment advertising, tailored social media content defining the organization’s unique value, promoting workplace culture, and communicating consistently can make a difference in attracting and retaining top talent.

3. Diversify channels to cast a wider net in the talent pool.

Job boards and social media aren't the only tickets to reaching significant audiences of job seekers. Activating platforms like Google Ads (formerly AdWords) to catch both active and passive job seekers before they get to the job boards is a smart and aggressive move for holiday hiring. Getting one step ahead of the job boards where competitors also have a shot at securing the next potential talent can take a little extra effort but can be worth it in the long haul.

As the holidays ramp up and staffing needs change by the minute, so will the tactics of recruiting the talent needed to keep holiday operations flowing. Recruiting teams can better understand the performance of recruiting campaigns and how applicants convert to hires with strong analytics and reporting. If that is a challenge, don’t hesitate to work with a partner to pull together a recruitment marketing strategy to better track the effectiveness of campaigns. With advanced insights, teams can reduce the time and money spent on recruitment, streamline the hiring process, and benefit the top line when hiring the best talent.

Neil Costa is the founder and CEO of HireClix, a global recruitment marketing agency.