Chicago — Nov. 3

Employers expect seasonal hiring in 2011 to be on par with 2010, according to a CareerBuilder survey.

Companies across industries expect to hire a similar number of seasonal workers for key areas such as sales, customer service, shipping, administrative support and other positions. Nearly three in 10 retailers (29 percent) plan to have extra hands on deck around the holidays, a moderate decline from 2010. One in 10 (10 percent) hospitality companies will add seasonal staff, the same as last year.

"Employers are keeping the status quo for holiday hiring as economic uncertainties shake consumer confidence," said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder. "While retail has the lion's share of seasonal jobs, you can also find opportunities in various industries and corporate roles. Hiring managers continually tell us that they will transition some seasonal workers into permanent employees, so you want to apply early and let the employer know up front that you're interested in long-term employment."

When looking at functional areas within an office or store, popular areas for recruitment this holiday season include:

• Customer service – 30 percent
• Administrative/clerical support – 16 percent
• Shipping/delivery – 15 percent
• Technology – 12 percent
• Inventory management – 10 percent
• Non-retail sales – 9 percent
• Accounting/finance – 8 percent
• Marketing – 8 percent

More than half of employers (53 percent) reported they will pay $10 or more per hour to seasonal staff, up from 48 percent last year. Fourteen percent will pay $16 or more, up from 9 percent last year.

While holiday jobs fill up quickly, 33 percent of employers who are hiring seasonal staff reported they are still recruiting for open positions in November. Eleven percent said they may still be recruiting as late as December.

Source: CareerBuilder