Last holiday season, thanks to low unemployment and rising wages, retailers faced an unprecedented hiring shortage. Since then, unemployment has only continued to drop: It hit 3.6% this spring, the lowest it's been in 50 years. At the same time, with the rising popularity of e-commerce, retailers need an increasing number of workers to fill warehouse and fulfillment jobs. All this means retailers can expect to be in even more of a pinch this season when trying to fill temporary holiday positions.
Luckily, there's an answer to your holiday hiring woes: catering your job offerings to millennials, who, according to our research, make up 65% of the seasonal workforce. Millennials take their friends' recommendations seriously and prioritize engaging with companies and brands they believe in. In other words, if you're able to draw in one or two strong millennial candidates to your warehouse, they're likely to rave about it to their friends and bring them on too.
But millennial gig workers also have different expectations than other generations, so many companies are at a loss for how to attract them, particularly during such a busy season for retailers where competition is stiff. The good news is there are a few ways employers can increase their odds of hiring millennial help this holiday season.
Provide Workers With A Path For Future Growth
We know that learning and development are at the top of millennials' priority lists when searching for work. So an easy way to attract millennial workers is to provide opportunities for future growth. Is there a chance someone who starts as a retail shelf stocker in your store could work their way to becoming a warehouse manager? If so, make this evident in your job listing.
You could also consider offering temp-to-hire positions, which are working arrangements in which a worker is hired first on a temporary basis with the possibility of the role becoming full-time. It's not a guaranteed full-time position and hinges on a few variables, such as how well the worker performs and outside influences such as economic fluctuations. But this way, you can get a feel for their work style early and eventually offer these workers training for relevant skills such as leadership and customer management.
Offer Benefits And Perks
As part-time employees, gig workers don't typically have access to employer-covered health insurance, but that doesn't mean they don't want it. Traditional benefits plans don't usually cover gig workers. Your organization could change this by partnering with health insurance companies such as Zego or Stride Health (full disclosure: Wonolo has a partnership with Stride Health) that help connect temporary workers with affordable insurance plans. Tapping them to offer insurance to your seasonal workers can be a huge selling point when you’re competing for talent.
In addition to thinking about traditional benefits, also consider getting more creative with the perks you offer. Think about smaller (but still important) aspects of full-time employment that gig workers aren't traditionally able to access. For example, most gig workers don't get to go to holiday parties. Why not host an open house in November or December for your temporary retail staff? Since referrals are one of the best ways to attract millennials, consider allowing your workers to bring a friend to the open house to show them where they work. In addition to being fun for your holiday staff, an open house might also ultimately help you hire even more temporary workers.
Meet Candidates Where They Are
Did you know 96% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 own a smartphone? Since so many millennials are using mobile devices, using text or mobile apps for job-related communication is an easy way to attract workers from this age group. Texting can be a quick and easy way to coordinate interviews, ask about availability, confirm salaries and more. Communicating via mobile will help you attract workers and meet them in a medium they are familiar with.
Pay Well
Wages are on the rise in the U.S., which means workers have a lot of high-paying jobs to choose from. This increase in pay is especially prevalent before the holidays. In a recent analysis my team conducted, we found that businesses increase wages by 8% to 9% to draw in top talent. To stay competitive with other companies hiring for seasonal labor, your business should offer higher pay around the holidays than you do during the rest of the year.
Today, millennials make up the majority of the temporary holiday workforce, so they should be an essential part of your seasonal hiring strategy. But they also have a lot of jobs to choose from. If you want to stay ahead of the competition, make sure you're catering your job listings to what millennial workers want. Offer holiday hires excellent benefits, plenty of growth opportunities and competitive pay. If you do, millennials might be the key to overcoming your holiday hiring challenges.
