It's that time of the year when stores start looking for seasonal workers to support the holiday shopping rush.
But due to inflation and recession fears, some big-name companies are pumping the breaks.
Still, a few places across the state are looking to bring on more employees, including UPS. Friday marks the kick-off to a big hiring weekend.
According to a report from Indeed Hiring Lab, job-seeking interest is up 33% since last year, which might not come as a surprise as rising prices push people to find seasonal work.
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"We hire over 1,000 seasonal team members at Stew Leonard's in general in multiple departments," said HR manager Anthony Walentukonis.
Walentukonis was 17 years old when he started as a seasonal worker at Stew Leonard's. He says that's what helped him get his foot in door and eventually climb the ranks.
As the family-owned grocery chain looks to fill positions, Walentukonis said it recently bumped the starting rate to $20, depending on the position.
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But economic concerns are causing hiring cuts for some companies.
"For example, Google and Microsoft are pumping the brakes on some of their hiring, at least for some parts of their business. Amazon, they're pumping the brakes on their hiring, maybe they built too many fulfillment centers. And so, they're slowing that down," said Professor Mo Cayer at the University of New Haven.
Cayer explains why retailers might be slow to add temporary help.
"Employers are looking out at the horizon are anticipating there's going to be a slowdown in the economy. Maybe a recession, maybe a recession light so they don't want to overhire and regret it come January, February, March."
On Nov. 4 through Nov. 5, UPS is looking to hire at least 60,000 seasonal workers nationwide. This includes 1,000 employees from the Hartford area.
"The prospective employees are coming in, they fill out, we help them out fill out an application, then we give them a job offer on the spot within 25 minutes, we sign them up for their first day, there's a lot of opportunity here," said Zachary Reay, UPS Business Manager for Rhode Island East Center.
The company is looking for truck and CDL drivers, driver helpers, and warehouse workers. Those interested in landing a seasonal job can check out this two-day job fair from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. at 90 Locus Street in Hartford.
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