Area Holiday Hiring Appears Limited

With high unemployment rates and economic turmoil dominating news headlines, it is no secret that jobs have been hard to come by for the unemployed. For those looking to earn some extra cash in retail over the holidays, the outlook does not look much more promising than it has for the rest of the year throughout Somerset County.

At a time of the year when some businesses would normally be looking to bring in employees to keep up with customer demand, many are not generating enough business to warrant paying for extra employee hours.

One such case is Big Bang Music Shop. Located in Hillsborough, the musical instrument retailer has not yet seen a spike in holiday-related business, said manager Pete Westervelt.

“Our level of business hasn’t increased enough to warrant [hiring],” he said. “We’re hoping to pick things up a bit, but things have been slow enough that we can handle it with the staff we have.”

For some businesses, a lack of new, seasonal employees around the holidays is the norm. For Efinger Sporting Goods in Bound Brook, their regular staff, combined with returning college students who work at the store in the summer months, are enough to suffice despite increasing customer demand during the holiday season.

“We usually don’t hire any additional holiday help," said Patrick Hoey on behalf of Efinger’s. "We usually make do with our current employees. Our part time employees will sometimes put in more hours. For us, there’s not really a necessity for hiring. We pretty much work out OK with our current staff.”

There is still hope out there for those looking for seasonal employment. Some local shops are still hiring holiday help, although some, like Gallery of Bliss in Basking Ridge, are exclusively doing so on a seasonal basis.

“I’m not really a big place that hires a lot of people,” said Robyn Kopin, who owns Gallery of Bliss. “This is a busy time of year for us, so I do hire some people temporarily, because this is our busy time.”

Anybody looking for any of these seasonal jobs is advised to act fast. Many businesses, such as Tons of Toys, which has two shops in neighboring Morris County in addition to its Bergen County location, like to hire their holiday help early—even if it’s before the holiday season itself officially begins.

“In our business, I need a lot of time to train, so I definitely hire for the holidays," said Chris Brinkofski, co-owner of Tons of Toys. "I usually try to get that done in October. We have so many toys in here, and to know the layout and the products in here, it takes a long time. Like most people, they kind of do have their steady employees, and they’re about the same as me, in that they try to hire early for the holidays so people are on their game. It’s tough to bring somebody in right in the middle of the season.”