Santas wanted: Christmas job vacancies jump 25 per cent
Christmas hiring is in full swing, with demand for temporary roles including elves, Santas and even mince pie quality auditors having surged this year, according to a recruitment platform.
Vacancies for temporary festive roles have jumped 25 per cent since last year, with 26,000 jobs currently being advertised, according to figures cited by PA from jobs site Adzuna.
The figures mark the busiest start to the Christmas hiring season since the job site began collecting data in 2016.
Along with demand for gift wrappers and snow clearers, Adzuna also noted big grocers such as Asda, Lidl and Tesco had accelerated their seasonal hiring.
Earlier this month, Tesco announced it was looking to hire 30,000 seasonal workers to meet increased demand this Christmas.
“It’s common to see these sectors ramp up hiring in the autumn ahead of the Christmas period, however by starting earlier in the year it could be because companies are predicting difficulties filling seasonal vacancies later down the line,” the report said.
Looking at vacancies overall, the report noted the strongest growth in the retail and logistics sectors, where advertised jobs increased 4.73 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively between July and August.