The short answer
Yes, there are seasonal jobs this year, but fewer than in past years. Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a firm that tracks hiring and layoffs, expects stores to add about 450,000 jobs in the last three months of 2026. That would be a little below last year, which was already the weakest holiday season since 2008.
The big exception is Amazon, which says it's hiring more than 300,000 people for the season. UPS is hiring more than 100,000. Dick's Sporting Goods and Michaels have announced more than 11,000 and more than 10,000. Target is holding hiring events in nine states but hasn't put a national number on its press site.
Seasonal pay at the big names runs from about $15 to $24 an hour, and most of these jobs are in stores, warehouses and delivery. Here's what each company has said, what the jobs pay, how often they turn into permanent work, and what our own data shows about November hiring.
How many seasonal jobs are there in 2026?
Every fall, stores and shipping companies add workers for the holidays and let most of them go in January. Challenger counts this using government job numbers that aren't adjusted for the season, so the fourth-quarter gain shows how much holiday hiring really happened.
| Year | Retail jobs added in Oct to Dec | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 543,100 | |
| 2025 | 461,500 | Smallest gain since 2008, 15% below 2024 |
| 2026 (forecast) | 450,000 | Challenger's prediction, September 23, 2026 |
Source: Challenger, Gray & Christmas, 2026 Holiday Hiring Outlook, September 23, 2026, using Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Shipping and warehouse companies hire for the holidays too. Challenger says that group added 266,500 jobs in the last quarter of 2025, down 12% from 2024 and the lowest for that period since 2018, and it expects about the same in 2026.
Why fewer jobs? Andy Challenger of the firm says retailers "are leaning on automation, existing associates, and on-demand pools." In plain words, stores give extra hours to the people they already have, use machines for more of the work, and call in gig workers for the busiest days instead of hiring a big seasonal crew.
That matches the bigger picture. The government's job openings report for September counted 698,000 open retail jobs, about the same as in August, so retail isn't growing its openings going into the season. And the Challenger forecast was written before Amazon announced its number, so the total could end up a bit higher than 450,000.
What it means for you: seasonal jobs exist, but there's more competition for each one than a few years ago. Applying early and applying to more than one company matters more than it used to.
Which companies are hiring seasonal workers?
These are the holiday hiring plans that companies have announced on their own websites as of November 4, 2026. We only list numbers we found on the company's own page.
| Company | Seasonal jobs | Announced | Kinds of jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | More than 300,000 | October 2026 | Warehouse and delivery, US-wide |
| UPS | More than 100,000 | October 7, 2026 | Package handlers, driver helpers, drivers |
| Dick's Sporting Goods and Foot Locker | More than 11,000 | October 15, 2026 | Store teammates |
| Michaels | More than 10,000 | September 10, 2026 | Store team members, US and Canada |
| Target | Not stated | Hiring events in 9 states | Store and fulfillment team members |
Sources: each company's own newsroom or careers page, listed at the end of this article.
A few details worth knowing about each one:
- Amazon says it's hiring over 300,000 people for seasonal, part-time and full-time jobs across its US operations. It posts new jobs every week from October through December, so if you don't see one near you today, check again next week.
- UPS says many applicants can get a job offer in less than seven minutes through its online application. The jobs are across the US, with flexible schedules and what UPS calls potential paths to permanent roles.
- Dick's expects about 8,400 seasonal teammates at Dick's, House of Sport, Going Going Gone! and Public Lands stores, plus about 2,900 at Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, WSS and Champs Sports. Its hiring day was October 21, but the release says hiring continues until the jobs are filled.
- Michaels held its hiring day on September 12, and its stores are still taking applications online.
- Target lists holiday recruiting events in Alabama, Florida, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia, and says it's hiring for a variety of roles with flexible schedules.
Challenger noted in September that only a handful of companies had published plans, and that's still true. Its outlook also counted Spirit Halloween's 52,000 store associates, but that season is mostly over. Walmart, Kohl's, Macy's, FedEx and the Postal Service hadn't posted a 2026 seasonal number on their newsrooms when we checked. That doesn't mean they aren't hiring; it means you have to search their careers pages directly.
What do seasonal jobs pay?
Only some companies say what seasonal jobs pay. Here's what they have published.
| Company | What the company says |
|---|---|
| Amazon | Seasonal employees earn an average of $20 an hour; full-time operations jobs start at $20 and average nearly $24 |
| Target | Starting wage range of $15 to $24 an hour depending on role and location; average frontline wage above $18.50 |
| UPS | "Competitive pay" and flexible schedules; no figure given |
| Dick's | "Competitive hourly pay" plus store discounts; 401(k) with a fully vested match after 30 days |
| Michaels | "Competitive wages" plus a 30% store discount; no figure given |
Sources: Amazon holiday jobs announcement (2026), Target pay and benefits fact sheet (updated October 30, 2026), UPS peak season story (October 7, 2026), Dick's Sporting Goods release (October 15, 2026), Michaels release (September 10, 2026).
Two things about pay are easy to miss:
- The rate depends on where you live. Target's range runs from $15 to $24 for the same kinds of jobs because big cities pay more. Amazon's $20 is an average, so some sites pay less and some more.
- Benefits can be worth real money. Amazon says that starting January 1, 2027, seasonal employees who work at least 30 hours a week get health coverage on their first day, with plans starting at $5 a week. Target says hourly team members become eligible for health benefits at 25 hours a week. If you're choosing between two offers at similar pay, the one with benefits is usually the better deal.
Can a seasonal job turn into a permanent one?
Often, yes, and it's worth asking about in the interview. Michaels says nearly 50% of its seasonal store positions turned into regular roles after last year's holidays. UPS says its seasonal jobs come with potential paths to permanent roles. Amazon is hiring for full-time jobs alongside seasonal ones, so some people start permanent from day one.
Seasonal jobs at tech and online companies
Most seasonal jobs are at stores and shipping companies, but online companies hire for the holidays too. Hiring Tempo checks the career pages of 750 companies every day, mostly tech and other fast-growing companies. On November 4, they had 72,251 open jobs, and 222 of those had "seasonal" in the title.
That's about 3 in every 1,000 jobs, so a tech job board is the wrong place to look for seasonal work in general. But a few online companies are hiring seasonal crews right now:
| Company | Seasonal jobs | What they are |
|---|---|---|
| Gopuff | 189 | Seasonal retail sales associates at its stores, mostly in California and Washington |
| Away | 12 | Store jobs in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Austin, Nashville and Washington, DC |
| StockX | 9 | Seasonal operations and sneaker verification jobs in Detroit, Tempe, Douglasville and West Caldwell |
| GOAT Group | 6 | Seasonal fulfillment jobs in Los Angeles, Fontana, Teterboro and Easton, and store jobs in Miami and New York |
| Peloton | 2 | Store jobs in Santa Clara and Nashville |
Source: Hiring Tempo, open jobs with "seasonal" in the title on company career pages, November 4, 2026.
Beyond those, 159 open jobs are labeled temporary or fixed-term and 585 are contract jobs. Those aren't holiday jobs, but they're another way into a company for a few months.
Does permanent hiring stop in November?
A lot of job seekers hear that nobody hires between Thanksgiving and New Year's and put their search on hold. Our data doesn't support that, at least not in early November.
Among the 456 companies we've tracked since early October, 2,105 jobs were posted in the seven days ending November 4, and 9,709 were posted in the last 30 days. That's 28% of all their open jobs. New postings were running a little lower than in early October, but they hadn't stopped. Engineering and sales were the biggest groups, and for a list of who is adding the most, see Companies Hiring Right Now: November 2026.
Hiring does slow in the last two weeks of December because the people who interview you are on vacation, but the jobs posted in November are the ones that get filled in January, so a permanent search now is still a good use of time.
How to get a seasonal job in 2026
- Apply now, not next week. The companies above started hiring in September and October. Dick's and Michaels have already held their hiring days, though both say hiring continues. The best spots go first.
- Apply to several companies at once. With fewer seasonal jobs than last year, don't wait on one answer. Amazon, UPS and Target all take applications online in a few minutes.
- Say yes to odd hours. Seasonal jobs cover nights, weekends and the week before Christmas, so say in the application that you can work them.
- Ask about staying on. If you want a permanent job, ask in the interview how many seasonal workers were kept last year. A company that gives you a number is one that tracks it.
- Check the pay for your city, not the headline. Ranges like Target's $15 to $24 depend on location. The job post for your store or warehouse has the real number.
- Keep your permanent search going. If you want something that lasts, keep applying to the jobs posted this week while you work the seasonal job.
Sources
- Challenger, Gray & Christmas, 2026 Holiday Hiring Outlook: After Lowest Season Since 2008, Will Retailers Stock Up on Workers?, September 23, 2026.
- Amazon, Amazon is creating 300,000+ US seasonal jobs with increased pay, expanded benefits, 2026.
- UPS, How UPS is helping customers ship with confidence this Peak season, October 7, 2026.
- Dick's Sporting Goods, DICK'S Sporting Goods Inc. to Hire Over 11,000 Seasonal Teammates for the 2026 Holiday Shopping Season, October 15, 2026.
- Michaels, Michaels Prepares for the Holiday Season with More Than 10,000 Seasonal Job Opportunities, September 10, 2026.
- Target, Holiday hiring events and Pay & Benefits fact sheet, updated October 30, 2026.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover, September 2026, released November 3, 2026.
- Hiring Tempo, open jobs on the career pages of 750 companies, checked daily. Counts are from November 4, 2026. The new-postings figures use the 456 companies tracked since early October, leaving out one company whose list is capped at 2,000 jobs.