Key takeaways
- Search interest in “seasonal jobs” is up 14% from the same week last year.
- 2026 is running about one week ahead of 2025.
- The fastest-rising searches name employers: UPS, Bath & Body Works, Macy's, USPS, Costco and Target.
Job seekers are looking for holiday work earlier than before. In the first week of October, search interest in “seasonal jobs” was 14% higher than in the same week of 2025, and the highest for that time of year in five years.
About One Week Ahead of Last Year
Week by week, 2026 is running about a week ahead of 2025. This year, search interest reached half of its five-year high on September 20. Last year it got there on September 28. In 2022, it was mid-October.
Searches for “holiday jobs” are about the same as last year, so the growth comes from people searching for “seasonal” work.
Search interest in “seasonal jobs”, first week of October
| Search interest | |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 40 |
| 2023 | 50 |
| 2024 | 58 |
| 2025 | 58 |
| 2026 | 66 |
Scale: 100 = the busiest week for this search in the past five years. Source: Google Trends, US.
The Peak Is Still Ahead
Every year, interest in seasonal jobs peaks in the first half of November. If 2026 follows the same pattern, the busiest weeks for holiday job searches are still to come.
Job Seekers Search by Employer
The fastest-rising seasonal job searches name specific employers.
| Search | Change |
|---|---|
| UPS seasonal jobs near me | +250% |
| Bath & Body Works seasonal jobs | +180% |
| Macy's seasonal jobs | +160% |
| USPS seasonal jobs | +150% |
| Costco seasonal jobs | +120% |
| Target seasonal jobs | +100% |
Change in search interest, September 1 to October 10, 2026, compared with the previous period of the same length. Source: Google Trends, US.
UPS said on October 7 that it plans to hire 100,000 seasonal workers this year. It hired 125,000 in 2024.
More Searching, Fewer Jobs
Challenger, Gray & Christmas expects retailers to add about 450,000 seasonal jobs this quarter, 2.5% fewer than last year. More people are searching earlier, and there may be fewer jobs to go around.
What This Means for Agencies
- Post seasonal jobs now. Job seekers started looking in September.
- Be ready for the first half of November, when searches usually peak.
- Put the city in the job title. “Seasonal jobs near me” is one of the top related searches.
- Name the employer when you can. Job seekers search for brands like UPS, Target and Costco.
- Say if the job can become permanent. It helps you stand out when there are fewer jobs.
About This Data
- Source: Google Trends, United States, weekly data from October 2021 to October 2026. Pulled on October 12, 2026.
- What the numbers mean: Google Trends shows search interest on a scale of 0 to 100, where 100 is the busiest week. It does not show the number of searches.
- Main comparison: first week of October 2026 vs. the same week in 2025.
- Cross-check: “holiday jobs” is about the same as last year. “Seasonal jobs near me” is slightly higher.
- Note: a one-week spike in early August 2025 was left out of the take-off comparison.
- Employer searches: Google Trends related searches, September 1 to October 10, 2026.
- Hiring numbers: Challenger, Gray & Christmas forecast (via Retail Dive, October 1, 2026). UPS announcement (Reuters, October 7, 2026).
Sources: Google Trends: “seasonal jobs”, US, 5 years, Retail Dive: holiday hiring forecast, Reuters via GV Wire: UPS to hire 100,000.