The holidays are getting closer by the day, so stores in Utah County and around the country are preparing for an increase in customers and sales. In order to keep up with demands, some stores look for seasonal hiring, typically of high school and college students along with people looking to make extra money around the holidays, but many small businesses in Utah County are not searching for new employees.

At Meier’s Meats and Fine Foods in Highland, sales often increase by 50%, so they hire seasonal workers in preparation for the holidays. Most of the seasonal workers are students from nearby high schools or colleges who have worked for them before — meaning new workers are rarely hired.

“During our breaks and holidays, we like to have them back because we don’t have to train them,” said Marshall Meier, the grocery store’s owner. “They already know what we do, and it gives them some extra money to go back to school with, and we spend less time training instead of starting with new help.”

During and after the season, employers sometimes transition their seasonal hires to full-time employees, if they see a fit. Seasonal employment is especially beneficial for younger workers, gaining additional experience, an opportunity to show their skills to employers and earn money.

Elizabeth Nash is a full-time employee now because of her time as a seasonal worker while in college. “I worked seasonally for the BLM, for the Bureau of Land Management, who I work for now, and that’s what actually led me to get my full time job,” she said.

The only downside, she said, is that depending on the job, seasonal workers may not have high pay and are likely to be laid off.

With seasonal hiring, workers don’t have a strict schedule, meaning every day’s performance is used to gauge whether or not they get more hours and regular holiday work.

With businesses that have a more complicated training process, seasonal hiring would be more difficult. At Kohler’s Food Store in Lehi, they prefer keeping employees for longer periods of time in order to limit turnover rates.

They also avoid hiring seasonal workers because it takes an average of two to three months for training, eliminating any benefits of help through November and December.

The Chocolate in Orem, though, decided not to do seasonal hiring because there were too many workers. Because they hired new workers prior to Thanksgiving, they reached full staffing.

“I think it’s a really smart idea, but I just don’t think that it’s necessary for our type of business,” said Natalie Brooksby, head shift lead. “We have a specific amount of people that work at night, and it doesn’t need it throughout the holiday season.”

Employees at The Chocolate are also in need of more hours, they say, meaning it would “put all of the other employees at a disadvantage” if new workers were introduced.

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