Navigating the Holiday Rush: The Seasonal Staffing Challenges Impacting the Frontline Workforce
As we enter the holiday season, companies across retail and hospitality are looking to hire seasonal workers to help prepare for the end-of-year rush. Seasonal hiring is a critical component in helping businesses keep up with the increased customer traffic. However, the hiring process is becoming increasingly burdensome for frontline managers who face the strain that comes with juggling everything from recruiting qualified candidates and training them quickly, to maintaining customer satisfaction and fostering a safe work environment. The entire process can often feel like a balancing act and despite their best efforts, many managers find themselves impacted by understaffing, recruitment issues and burnout.
More Than Just a Numbers Game
Seasonal hiring is by no means a new challenge for companies, but the stakes feel higher than ever for frontline managers this year. Many report that their biggest concern is maintaining staffing levels, with 75% citing concerns about delivering a consistent customer experience during the holiday rush, according to new seasonal hiring frontline manager data from my company Axonify.
The fear is particularly prominent in the hospitality sector, where managers are also grappling with burnout among their teams. In fact, 70% of frontline managers are worried that understaffing will lead to employee exhaustion, further impacting their ability to meet customer expectations.
While almost half of managers (44%) report they are either hiring the same number of seasonal workers as last year or increasing the amount this year, finding high-quality candidates remains a challenge for many. With 61% of managers noting a drop in the quality of applicants this year when it comes to skill set, professionalism and job-related experience, it’s clear that simply hiring more people isn’t enough. Managers seek workers who are capable and ready to perform—and those are becoming harder to find.
A Shift in Recruitment Strategies
To help alleviate some of these seasonal hiring challenges, frontline managers are getting creative with recruitment strategies, offering benefits such as flexible work schedules and even raising wages this year for the same positions posted last year. Seventy-seven percent of managers are also promoting that they offer a safe and secure work environment, particularly in the hospitality sector where 80% of managers are leaning on this strategy to attract new seasonal talent.
Training and development have also become a core focus, with more than half (53%) of managers now offering upskilling initiatives to help new hires quickly get up to speed. This focus on skill development not only helps seasonal workers hit the ground running but also contributes to employee engagement, a crucial factor when it comes to worker retention.
However, these new strategies come with a set of challenges. For example, many managers face limited time and resources and currently struggle to provide the level of training necessary to equip seasonal staff with the skills they need to succeed quickly. Embracing training programs that offer continuous, ongoing training can help alleviate some of this burden on managers, freeing up their time to focus on leading teams.
Where Burnout Factors In
Manager faces the daunting pressure of maintaining staffing levels, recruiting seasonal workers and ensuring they are properly trained and ready for all the holiday season brings. It comes as no surprise then that burnout is a common theme among frontline managers today, with 65% admitting that the run-up to the holiday season leaves them feeling exhausted and struggling with overwhelm.
Due largely to this feeling of burnout, many frontline managers are considering leaving their jobs altogether. Today, nearly 40% have considered quitting in the last two months and 9% have already made the decision to leave their job by the end of the year.
Finding a Better Way Forward
While seasonal hiring will always come with challenges, there are proactive ways to ease the burden on frontline managers and the broader workforce. A more engaged and empowered workforce is a powerful stepping stone, as 84% of managers agree this would help alleviate many of the pain points they currently face. Hospitality businesses today need to recognize the strain that seasonal hiring places on managers and implement the best practices to support them. This starts by investing in better training programs, switching up recruitment strategies and addressing burnout head-on, allowing companies to ensure their entire frontline workforce is prepared to handle the holiday rush without sacrificing their well-being in the process.