Seasonal Jobs Can Help Bridge The Gap

October 26, 2009 0 Comments

The Holiday season is almost here, and although they say the recession is over, Americans as a whole are not seeing jobs return as quickly as we need them. At a time of year where “extra” money is spent on gifts and festivities, some families are feeling hopeless as the realization dawns that they cannot afford to maintain their daily lives, never mind fill the space under the Christmas tree or next to the Menorah. In addition to needing that extra cash to spend on the Holidays, the American economy needs the same extra cash flowing through stores and businesses to help revive the visible economy.

The recession itself may be done – but the non-Wall Street world is not feeling much relief. Americans have been brought up to think that the Holidays are supposed to bring warmth and love into a home, not extra worry, stress, and empty hope. However, there’s a silver lining that comes along with this time of year: stores, businesses, restaurants, and other companies are hiring extra staff for the Holiday season.

Often, the Holiday jobs that open up between Halloween and New Years go to people who want a second job to supply extra cash for their family festivities. This year, grocery store, restaurant chain, Christmas tree vendor, and department store jobs – while perhaps not the perfect career move for someone with an established career – can help bridge the gap for those who are out of work.

What would happen if every single one of those people who usually apply for that second job to make the Holidays more extravagant, made way – in the Spirit of the Season – for all those folks who have homes being repossessed or children who dine regularly on government supplied cheese? What if we took it a step beyond that and required that everyone being hired for these extra positions be currently unemployed? Can you imagine the joy that would bring to this country as a whole if the hundreds of thousands of seasonal jobs went to people whose unemployment benefits have run out?

Now, you may be asking yourself how in the world anyone can make such a mandate. How can such an idea be regulated? The answer is “it probably can’t”. Instead, maybe it should fall on the hearts of those still fortunate enough to be solidly employed. Maybe those able to support their families can choose to make way for those less fortunate.

According to household survey data published in an economic news release (by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, under the US Department of Labor, on October 2, 2009): “Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs rose by 603,000 to 10.4 million in September. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) rose by 450,000 to 5.4 million. In September, 35.6 percent of unemployed persons were jobless for 27 weeks or more.” These numbers are frightening, and are climbing. The American recession may have ended, but a lot of Americans are not feeling relief. Some might say that there’s not much good in replacing temporary jobs with more temporary jobs, but for this Holiday season temporary seasonal jobs can be the silver lining for many.

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