Want To Make Extra Money This Holiday Season? Here's Where The Jobs Are

With prices rising and real wages falling, more workers are competing for second seasonal or part-time jobs. Fortunately, retailers, delivery companies and event companies are hiring.

With record high gas prices, overall consumer price inflation running at 3.7%, and falling real wages, plenty of American workers are on the hunt for second or even third jobs for the upcoming holiday season. Fortunately for them, a good number of retailers and other companies who need seasonal workers are already posting job ads for the coming holiday season.

That's according to Indeed, the national job search platform, which reported this week that seasonal job postings are up 10% year-over-year from 2025, and even up 7% above 2019 levels, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Those figures were enough for Indeed to declare that "seasonal hiring is off to its best start in several years."

"One thing that is rational to take from that is that retailers and other people that hire seasonal jobs - so warehouses, delivery people, even caterers - people are expecting a decent Christmas season," says Laura Ullrich, director of economic research at Indeed. "It's not like you're seeing companies say, 'Oh, we're not expecting to be busy this season.' So that's positive."

At the same time, however, strictly seasonal jobs by themselves ticked downwards, Indeed found, while many companies that often hire seasonal help are now instead looking for permanent part-time workers. A year ago, at the close of September 2025, about 34% of job postings from similar companies were listed as seasonal, but that category is down to about 20%, while part-time job listings have surged to 49%, up from 38% a year ago.

"Consumer spending has remained strong. And so I think this is a signal that companies are expecting that to continue. I read that move from seasonal hiring to part-time hiring as a definite positive," Ullrich says.

Meanwhile, the number of companies hiring full-time, permanent help has stayed flat, the Indeed study found, at 20% this year compared to 19% a year ago.

More Competition for Jobs

But getting one of those seasonal or part-time permanent jobs might not be so easy. There's more competition.

The number of seasonal jobseekers has ticked up 28% year-over-year, Indeed reported. Ullrich says that makes sense given how much the cost of living has risen during the second Trump Administration, due to factors such as the war in Iran and new international tariffs.

"There's a lot of people out there looking for seasonal jobs," Ullrich says, noting that 16% of people hunting for jobs on Indeed already hold a second job. "That's not a surprise given what we see happening with incomes and prices. Our data show that wage growth isn't keeping up with inflation growth, so real wages are declining for people. For some individuals, one solution to that problem is to work more hours and pick up a second or third job."

What Kind of Jobs Are Available?

Unsurprisingly, 61% of holiday seasonal jobs are in retail and sales. The top jobs that retail companies are looking to fill include positions in sales, stocking, cashiers, retail managers and assistant managers. But there are also a good cross-section of other industries looking for help as well, Indeed noted, including customer service representatives, unloaders, delivery and truck drivers, photographers, warehouse associates, and inventory specialists. According to the Indeed report, almost 9% of this year's seasonal jobs are in loading and stocking, 8% are in sales, 6.4% are in customer service, 3.5% are driver jobs, and 3.4% are in food preparation.

"It is a lot of retail," Ullrich emphasized, but added there are many openings too with catering businesses, delivery companies, and events-based firms that need help with tasks such as professional photography. "Many of those industries do rely heavily on part-time labor."

The final word of advice from Indeed to those looking for an extra Christmas-time paycheck? "Start applying now."

"The biggest rise in seasonal postings typically occurs between mid-September and mid-November, and competition for these jobs is likely to be fairly stiff this year. Employers hiring for these roles may benefit from a larger pool of interested workers, but they are also competing against rising demand from other employers," the Indeed report concluded.

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