FLORENCE- New numbers out this week on seasonal hiring show significant gains in the workforce nationwide. A report from hiring firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, shows seasonal hiring among retailers increased 27 percent in November, from the same time last year-the highest rate since 2007. The seasonally-adjusted number showed 49,800 job gains for the month. October retail hiring also increased by 15 percent from the same time in 2010. For the season so far, which starts in October and ends in December, retailers have added 547,000 workers, up from 476,000 in October and November of last year. Those working in the retail industry say seasonal workers are an important part of the holiday shopping puzzle and say that they provide services that not only help customers, but help other busy employees as well. "Seasonal workers provide a lot of great help, they can work in any areas of the store versus some of the full-timers that we have are dedicated to certain areas of the store, but the seasonal help are more mobile," said Brandon Carroll, Asst. Store Manager at the Lowe's Home Improvement Store on David McLeod Blvd. in Florence. Carroll said Lowe's hires seasonal employees not only in preparation for the holiday season, but also hires temporary employees to work in the garden section during the summer. He says those employees provide valuable services by bolstering the work force during some of the busiest times of the year. "We get a lot of great help and great employees for those times of the year, especially in our outside garden center and around our Christmas area, they do a great job for our store and overall, they're just great employees," Carroll said. Many of the seasonal employees are able to transition the temporary jobs into either part-time or full-time work, which provides them with more hours, more stability and the potential for more pay and benefits. "Basically the hours are different, because being part-time you work more hours than you would as a seasonal (employee)," said Shameka Waiter, who took a seasonal job at Lowe's nearly a year ago, which she was able to transition into part-time employment. "Being seasonal, I was concerned about if I was going to be here for two months or three months and then I was going to leave, but now, being part-time, it doesn't bother me," she said. Waiters said she was thankful to find seasonal work, and said many others in the same position should be encouraged by the spike in seasonal employment.
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