The 2025 holiday hiring season is presenting a complex picture for the labor market. According to the latest iCIMS Insights Workforce Report, job openings and applications have surged, but the actual number of hires has remained flat year-over-year. This data suggests a climate of employer caution, where an abundance of candidates is not directly translating into new roles, posing a potential challenge for both businesses and job seekers during the critical retail and transportation peak.
Quick Intel
iCIMS data shows a 19% year-over-year increase in job applications, but hiring remains flat.
This indicates significant employer caution ahead of the 2025 holiday season.
Retail hiring activity has declined for three consecutive months despite a 15% rise in openings.
Transportation hiring is stronger, with a 7% rise in hires and a faster time-to-fill.
The applicant pool in both retail and transportation is trending older this season.
The key for employers is to streamline hiring processes to convert candidates faster.
The report highlights a divergence between the retail and transportation sectors. In retail, job openings have climbed 15%, but hiring activity has actually declined for three straight months, dropping 9% since July. Conversely, the transportation sector is accelerating, with job openings up 19% and hires up 7%, both reaching a 13-month high in September. This indicates that logistics and delivery companies are staffing up more aggressively to meet holiday demand compared to traditional retailers.
A central finding of the report is the growing inefficiency in the hiring process, particularly in retail. While the number of applicants per opening has increased, the time to fill these roles has also grown, rising from 40 to 42 days in retail. This creates a bottleneck where employers are slow to secure talent despite a large candidate pool. In contrast, transportation has managed to decrease its time-to-fill from 42 to 38 days, demonstrating that faster, more efficient hiring is achievable even with high application volume.
The data also reveals a notable shift in the demographics of the seasonal workforce. The share of applicants aged 18-24 has decreased in both retail and transportation, dropping from 43% to 37% and 46% to 37%, respectively. This decline is being offset by an increase in applicants from older age brackets, such as those aged 35-44. This trend suggests a changing seasonal labor force that may have different expectations and requirements from employers.
The overarching theme for the 2025 holiday hiring season is one of caution and efficiency. With a high supply of candidates available, the competitive advantage for employers will not be in sourcing more applicants, but in refining their hiring processes to move with greater speed and purpose. Companies that can reduce time-to-fill and eliminate obstacles will be the ones who successfully secure the top talent needed to navigate the busiest time of the year.
iCIMS is a leading provider of talent acquisition technology that enables organizations everywhere to build winning workforces. For over 20 years, iCIMS has been at the forefront of talent acquisition transformation. iCIMS empowers thousands of organizations worldwide with the right tools to meet their evolving needs across the talent journey and drive business success. Its AI-powered hiring platform is designed to improve efficiency, cut recruiting costs and build exceptional experiences for candidates and recruiters.
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