NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Uncertainty over the economy and tariffs is forcing retailers to pull back or delay plans to hire seasonal workers who pack orders at distribution centers, serve shoppers at stores and build holiday displays during the most important selling season of the year.<\/p>\n
American Christmas LLC, which creates elaborate holiday installations for commercial properties such as New York’s Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall, plans to hire 220 temporary workers and is ramping up recruitment nearly two months later than usual, CEO Dan Casterella said. Last year, the company took on 300 people during its busy period. <\/p>\n
The main reason? The company wants to offset its tariff bill, which Casterella expects to be as big as $1.5 million this year, more than double last year\u2019s $600,000. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue is if you overstaff and then you underperform, it\u2019s too late,” Casterella said. \u201dI think everyone\u2019s more mindful now than ever. \u201d<\/p>\n
Job placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas forecasts hiring for the last three months of the year will likely fall under 500,000 positions. That’s fewer than last year\u2019s 543,000 level and also marks the smallest seasonal gain in 16 years when retailers hired 495,800 temporary workers, the firm said. The average seasonal gain since 2005 has been 653,363 workers, the firm said.<\/p>\n
Among other companies cutting holiday payrolls: Radial, which powers deliveries for roughly 120 brands like Lands\u2019 End and Cole Haan and operates 20 fulfillment sites. It plans to hire 6,500 workers, fewer than last year\u2019s 7,000, and is waiting to the last minute to ramp up hiring for some of its clients, chief human resources officer Sabrina Wnorowski, said.<\/p>\n
Bath & Body Works, based in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, said it plans to hire 32,000 workers, lower than the 32,700 a year ago. <\/p>\n
Among the bright spots: Online behemoth Amazon Inc. said Monday it intends to hire 250,000 full-, part-time and seasonal workers for the crucial shopping period, the same level as a year ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw real strong signals that there\u2019s been a cooling in the labor market, even beyond what our expectations were in the first nine months of the year,\u201d Challenger’s senior vice president Andy Challenger said. \u201cWe are having lots of regular conversations with companies about pending layoffs and changes they\u2019re making to their workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to overall economic uncertainty, Challenger noted companies are using artificial intelligence<\/a> bots to replace some workers, particularly those working in call centers. And he’s also seeing companies hiring workers closer to when they need them.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the list of companies staying mum about their specific holiday hiring goals keeps growing. Target Corp., UPS and Macy\u2019s are declining to offer figures, a departure from the past. UPS had hired 125,000 seasonal hires last year, while Target announced last year it planned to hire 100,000 workers. Macy’s last year said it would hire 31,500 seasonal workers.<\/p>\n Retailers’ hiring plans mark the first clues to what\u2019s in store for the U.S. holiday shopping season and come as the U.S. job market has lost momentum this year<\/a>, partly because Trump\u2019s trade wars<\/a> have created uncertainty that’s paralyzing managers trying to make hiring decisions.<\/p>\n