Seasonal hiring season comes for Spokane jobseekers

When Amazon announced two weeks ago that it was seeking 1,000 temporary workers to help with its holiday rush, it signaled a change in what has traditionally been a good time for Spokane area workers seeking a little extra cash.

The holidays have been a time when retailers load their employee ranks to have enough labor to meet the holiday buying rush, said Grant Forsyth, chief economist for Avista Corp.

“Holiday hiring is almost as old as the country,” Forsyth said. “From an economics point of view, we don’t think too much about it because it’s such a normal part of how, in particular how the U.S. economy, functions.”

However, those jobs, which typically do not include benefits and tend to last weeks instead of months, have seen a major shift from workers selling perfume in stores like Nordstrom to working at shipping companies who sell perfume through online orders.

“Most economists view it as mostly beneficial,” Forsyth said of the part-time jobs.

Kevin Williams is the division executive for the Spokane Workforce Council. That nonprofit organization works to connect both employers and job seekers.

“These seasonal jobs are really good for young adults,” Williams said of the holiday hiring push. “There are a lot of good opportunities there to get their first work experience going.”

The Workforce campus, located at 140 S. Arthur St., also includes WorkSource Spokane’s Next Generation Zone, which provides General Education Development classes to people ages 16 to 24.

“These seasonal jobs are what we talk about to young adults coming out of our GED program,” Williams said. “It’s a great way to start and get work experience.”

While the holiday hiring season is kicking in, the year over year unemployment rate for the Spokane area remains at a historically low level, said Mike McBride, the regional labor economist for the Washington State Department of Employment Security.

McBride replaced longtime economist Doug Tweedy, who died in 2024.

The most recent figures showed a local unemployment rate of 4.3%, slightly lower than this time last year, which came in at 4.7%.

“Before the pandemic, we rarely got below 5%,” McBride said. “It’s nice and low and not of concern.”

However, the number of workers in the labor force continues to decline.

“The number of those looking for work is declining because we have baby boomers retiring,” he said. “More people are turning 65 than turning 18 year after year. This will be a trend we see going forward.”

Despite that decline, those numbers have been offset, somewhat, by a net increase of residents moving to the Lilac City. Spokane has slightly outpaced the state and national average in that regard, he said.

Another disturbing figure is the number of college graduates nationally who have struggled to find work after receiving degrees, he said. That could be a boon for local employers for the holiday.

“There’s likely a number of people in the situation where they would be willing to accept temporary work while they are looking for something else,” he said.

Williams, of the Spokane Workforce Council, said it’s clear companies like Amazon, UPS and others are seeking workers, but the numbers have not significantly increased over historical levels.

“When you look at different data sources, we certainly do not see quite as many job listings as we have in past years,” he said. “I think a lot of employers at the present time are in this stasis where they are sorting things out.”

McBride, the state economist, agreed, pointing to a troubling statistic from earlier in 2025.

“We really have a bifurcated economy right now,” he said. “In the second quarter of this year, the top 10% of household incomes accounted for 50% of spending. So, everything is being driven by wealthier households.”

That could spell difficulty for the holiday season for some retailers, depending on who they target for sales.

“Lower -income households are really stressed with the cost of living,” McBride said.

Ryan Herzog, an associate professor of economics at Gonzaga University, said he recently did a presentation that focused on monthly job gains.

“Last November and December we saw some spikes in jobs. It was all tied to transportation and warehousing and leisure and hospitality,” he said. “That tells me it’s all seasonal.”

Many of those seeking jobs this time of year are hoping it will turn into something better, Herzog said.

“Typically, people who are jumping on these seasonal jobs are trying to get hired full time,” he said. “Every year at this time, we have 2,000 to 3,000 seasonal workers getting about $22 an hour. They don’t offer benefits, but it’s certainly something.”

While all of the economists agreed that the seasonal jobs provide a great way for young people to enter the work force, gain experience and potentially land a full-time gig, Forsyth said the young job seekers may have competition this year.

He noted that Amazon just laid off 14,000 corporate jobs and more than 15,000 Microsoft employees companywide have been laid off since May.

“We are seeing a surge of layoffs occur,” Forsyth said. “My guess is people will be needing a bridge to employment. The labor market is weakening, you might see more competition for these temporary jobs as people are forced out of permanent jobs.”