For many businesses in sectors like retail, hospitality and logistics, Christmas trade is crucial. That will be the case this year more than any other, as pubs, restaurants, shops and other businesses look to make up for disruptions from the pandemic.

To make the most of this bumper period, employers have historically relied on seasonal workers. However, they may struggle to recruit this year, given the labour shortages already affecting employers across the economy. Last month, jobs board Adzuna had 26,307 live Christmas job advertisements, up from 13,668 at the same time last year. Among the more festive advertisements for Christmas elves, tree sellers and gift wrappers, are companies offering significant signing bonuses for key roles in an attempt to plug gaps in their seasonal workforce, including up to £2,000 for seasonal warehouse workers and £500 for new recruits in various retail and hospitality positions.

There are many reasons why a temporary seasonal contract may appeal to some workers. Many of the jobs advertised require little previous experience, making them a good way for students, recent school leavers and people returning to work after a period of unemployment to enter the labour market. Additionally, a seasonal job could be a good way to test out a new role or sector without the long-term commitment of a permanent contract. Some may be attracted by the potential prospect of a role being extended, or even the offer of a permanent role.

Concerningly, recent labour market figures show that the number of workers on temporary contracts is on the rise and that a larger share of temporary workers would prefer to be on a permanent contract, compared with this time last year. Furthermore, research has found temporary jobs to be more likely to have poor quality characteristics, meaning that they are more likely to be lower paid, and provide workers with less access to training and development, career progression, and employer sick pay. This trend is particularly acute in the retail sector, where we estimate as many as 400,000 workers are ineligible for sick pay.

Engaging in temporary work for a short period of time may not negatively affect workers. But when individuals work a series of temporary jobs over a prolonged period of time, they may face wage penalties and a lower likelihood of moving into permanent work.

While the full impact of the new Omicron variant remains to be seen, many hospitality businesses are already reporting a rise in cancellations of existing bookings as well as a decline in demand for new bookings. Any reversion back into restrictions or full lockdowns will affect business confidence in sectors such as hospitality and non-essential retail, which will likely only further drive the trend towards temporary work and other insecure forms of unemployment.

With the economic recovery expected by early 2022, we must ensure that this shift to higher levels of temporary work does not become a more permanent feature of the labour market and that workers across the economy are able to access good quality, secure employment.

At the Work Foundation, we are delivering a new research programme to understand how the COVID-19 crisis is impacting job security, and what businesses, policymakers and workers can do to protect and enhance job quality during and after the crisis. If you’d like more information about our research or would like to discuss opportunities for working together, please get in touch.

Heather Taylor is a Policy Analyst at the Work Foundation.

Related Blogs

• 

  My Easter break at Lancaster - Weaving My Story Between Two Worlds

• 

  Frosty Days, Festive Ways!

• 

  Taking student issues to Parliament

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed by our bloggers and those providing comments are personal, and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of Lancaster University. Responsibility for the accuracy of any of the information contained within blog posts belongs to the blogger.