Local Stores Hire Seasonal Employees for Holiday Season

The shopping season means higher employment with seasonal jobs at retail stores. Workers both young and old take advantage of the short term employment.

At the Gulfport Premium Outlets, every store hired additional employees. Some stores hired as many as 50 extra workers. This year, the National Retail Federation is expecting employers to hire almost 800,000 workers for the holidays. Taylor Hendrickson, a retail employee, says, “This is my first job ever, so I was really scared when I started, but I kinda’ go the hang of things.”

Rhonda Roberts, Director of Marketing for Gulfport Premium Outlets, says, “Well we started hiring in October so we can get them trained and ready for Black Friday and it’s been strong this year. We’ve had a big turnout and we’ve hired a lot of people ‘cause we’re expecting strong sales.”

According to the National Retail Federation, employers in 2013 hired 14% more workers than the previous year.