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Happy Holidays!
Now get to work
By Ramonica Rice
CNN.com/career Associate Editor
(CNN) -- "Santa Claus still has to come, whether we can cut the grass or not."
That's the sentiment of Sharon Price, who owns an Atlanta landscaping business but has taken a second job as a driver with the United Parcel Service -- to earn extra cash for the holidays.
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"Landscaping is not a real lucrative job during the Christmas and winter seasons," says Price, a 36-year-old mother of two. "I was looking for a way to supplement and maintain a steady income through the off-season."
You hear a similar line of thinking from Dena Anderson, a care-team coordinator for the AIDS Interface Network in Tarrant County, Texas. Anderson moonlights at Bath and Body Works.
"I need extra Christmas money," says Anderson. "I have a wedding in September to prepare for and I like the discount" -- a 30-percent discount that is 30-percent off and extends to its sister stores, Victoria's Secret and White Barn Candle Company.
Now may be a better time than ever to find seasonal work if you want it. Just visit your local mall and browse advertisements in store windows that say Generous Discounts and Earn Extra Holiday Cash and Shop Now, Work Later-- all messages to try to seduce their customers to join the team.
 The Santa clause
For some 13 months, the United States jobless rate has hovered at a three-decade low of 4.1 percent or less. Although first-time unemployment claims seemed to start inching up in November -- one of the recent new signs of the economy's slowdown referred to this week by Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan -- managers from various sectors still face stiff competition in recruiting seasonal workers.
The Washington-based Employment Policy Foundation (EPF) -- a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and education group -- estimates that 2.2 million workers will be needed to fill holiday jobs by the end of the year.
"Labor force participation is at an all-time high," says Ron Bird, chief economist for the EPF. "The reserves that we normally tap into in the labor market are just thinner than ever before."
Those reserves are usually college students, retirees and stay-at-home moms who fill the wide field of seasonal worker positions. But this month and in November, some employers are encouraging their part-time staffers to switch to full-time to help handle the holiday crunch.
Seasonal employment trends closely mirror consumer spending patterns, according to the EPF, with the largest share of new positions needed in department stores. That's 380,000 jobs, and they account for 26 percent of anticipated job gains.
The second-largest seasonal job-gain group is business services with 18 percent. That category includes temp agencies, data-processing firms and companies that verify credit cards scanned at cash registers.
The retail industry averages a 3-percent increase in staff during the eight-week holiday period, according to Pamela Rucker, vice president of public relations for the National Retail Federation (NRF). The federation is a trade group headquartered in Washington and serving department, specialty, independent, discount and mass-merchandise stores in the States and abroad.
Earlier this year, retailers recognized the potential shortage of qualified workers, coupled with a projected increase of 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent in holiday sales. Many tried to prepare and found themselves forced to offer special incentives to prospective employees -- frequently money well above minimum wage, and in some cases signing bonuses and flexible schedules.
"When I worked in retail about 15 years ago for the holiday season," says Rucker, "I had to work at least 16 hours a week and I had to work a weekend. That was not negotiable. These days, retailers are offering schedules of as few as 10 hours a week and weekends are preferred, but not necessarily required."
 Macy's West and all points east
"We anticipated that it would be as tough if not tougher than last year," says Brenda Moore, director of store recruitment for Macy's West in San Francisco. "People would either tell us they don't need to work or don't need the second job that they may have once needed."
Moore says the Macy's West goal was to hire 10,000 additional people to fill positions working with customers, gift wrap and stocking inventory. She says in-store signage and employee referrals helped Macy's exceed 1999's staffing goals. As an incentive, new hires were offered the 25-percent employee discount from the day they accepted the job, rather than from their first day of work.
"It's absolutely a cutthroat industry in terms of staffing," says the Retail Federation's Rucker. "You might have heard of some retailers complaining that their good employees are being stolen by other retailers. But it's a function of the environment we have now. Good workers really are hard to find and when one retailer has one, we try doubly hard to keep that employee happy."
And does a happy employee guarantee a happy customer?
Despite many retailers' efforts to beef up staff for the holidays, shoppers may encounter massive crowds and long lines. Bird says anecdotal evidence suggests employers are struggling to find the workers they need for the holiday season. He says he's experienced the effects of this tight labor market firsthand.
"I was at a store trying to buy computer equipment for my son and I had to wait for 30 minutes," Bird says. "When I spoke to the manager he said, 'We just can't get anybody.'
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Ron Bird, Employment Policy Foundation
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"Employers are really caught in a bind because if you can't find the people and yet the customers are coming in the door, you just have to do the best you can."
Bird says that difficult situation is, ironically, the right one to be in: "We've got a healthy economy."
"Consumers aren't stupid," says Rucker. "They know what the holiday season is like just as well as retailers. They know there are certain things that are part of the holiday season -- and waiting in line is one of those things you can't separate from the holidays."
Some stores have positioned sale stations with cash registers in strategic areas -- and kiosks that provide information about products -- to try to alleviate customer-service problems that may be exacerbated by the scarcity of workers.
 Moving merchandise
Retail isn't the only industry in need of holiday help. Other sectors scrounging for holiday help are health services, air transport and -- just within the last decade -- manufacturing.
"This may reflect changes in technology, structure in the manufacturing sector in America, the kinds of things being produced, organization, and operation," says Bird.
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PART TIME, FULL TIME
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United Parcel Service has set out to hire 95,000 seasonal workers -- including drivers, driver helpers, package sorters and loaders -- to deliver an estimated 325 million packages worldwide. According to UPS spokeswoman Paula Fulford, the company hires thousands of people every year and manages to meet their goals for the holiday season.
"In many areas of the country, we're offering bonuses for driver helpers so they can earn up to $100," says Fulford. UPS also provides transportation to seasonal workers who commute from urban centers to UPS hubs in the suburbs. While in transit, those employees are served doughnuts, coffee and pizza.
"Whatever we can do to make the whole process more comfortable for our seasonal employees, that's what we want to do," says Fulford.
Likewise, lots of employers will go a long way to keep holiday workers happy and employed -- at least until December 31.
"This is the best of all possible times to be an employee," says Bird. "Most everybody who wants a job, can find a job."
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If you want a foot in the door -- or on the big brown truck -- holiday work is a great way to get a leg up on the situation.