Whether it's working at a pumpkin patch or picking up hours at a department store, people are trying to earn some extra cash as seasonal jobs fill up.
For Amanda Burns and her husband, running Jingle Bulbs is pretty manageable most of the year.
"Not counting seasonal employees, I would say our main staff is just my husband and I," Burns said.
That changes when the holidays hit.
"We're extremely busy. We start getting leads in early October," Burns said.
That's when their family-owned business takes on an additional 10 to 15 seasonal employees to help with contracted jobs — putting up Christmas lights at both commercial establishments and homes.
Christian Douglas is one of those seasonal employees.
"You work really hard for a few months or half a year at a time, and then you get into your next essentially project of kind of almost like a career for while you're doing it, and then you get to go to your other job," Douglas said.
Typically, seasonal employees generally don't make more per hour than regular employees, and they don't get any benefits like 401Ks or health insurance. But they do have more flexibility throughout the year, since they only work during specific months.
According to analysis from Indeed.com, a national job search platform, seasonal job postings are up 10% year-over-year from 2025.
The breakdown of postings looks like this:
- 61% of seasonal jobs are found in retail
- 8.7% are in loading and stocking for company warehouses
- 3.4% are in food preparation and the service industry
Burns said this year they've gotten a mix of seasonal applicants.
"We've had a mix of college students. We've also had luck with people who are in between jobs and really are just looking for something immediate," Burns said.
For anyone interested in earning some extra cash over the holidays, Burns shares these tips.
"Start looking early, be on time, be flexible with your schedule. We look for someone reliable, someone who's going to stick with us through this busy time," Burns said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
