Summer Hiring to Soar This Year with 2 in 5 Employers Expecting to Recruit Seasonal Help, According to Annual CareerBuilder Job Forecast

- Higher percentage of workers in Miami, New York and Los Angeles hiring seasonal workers this summer

- Survey reveals list of most unusual summer jobs employees have had

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May 11, 2017, 04:03 ET

CHICAGO and ATLANTA, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The summer job market is upon us and with good news — companies are stepping up their summer hiring. Forty-one percent of employers plan to hire seasonal workers for the summer, a significant jump from 29 percent last year. Of those who are hiring summer workers, 34 percent are hiring a friend, 30 percent a family member and 19 percent their child.

The national survey was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder between February 16 to March 9, 2017 and included representative samples of 2,587 full-time employers (of which 2,380 are in the private sector) and 3,420 full-time workers across industries and company sizes.

Not all summer jobs are temporary. A large majority of employers hiring this summer (79 percent) say they will consider some summer hires for permanent positions — up from 76 percent last year.

"Don't approach your summer position as if it's only a temporary job. From the start, find out what your responsibilities are, what is expected of you and how your job impacts the company's bottom line," said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder. "You should view it as an extended job interview. This is an opportunity for the company to get to know you, to show them what you bring to their organization and to show how you can become a valuable asset."

A look at who's hiring this summer
Employers hiring seasonal workers this summer by company size:

Companies with 50 or fewer employees — 28 percent are hiring summer workers, compared to 23 percent last year.
Companies with 250 or fewer employees — 37 percent, compared to 27 percent last year.
Companies with more than 500 employees — 45 percent, compared to 31 percent last year.

Employers hiring seasonal workers, comparing the ten most populous cities
Miami: 66 percent
New York: 58 percent
Los Angeles: 45 percent
Washington DC¹: 46 percent
Chicago: 40 percent
Houston¹: 38 percent
Boston: 33 percent
Dallas: 29 percent
Atlanta¹: 28 percent
Philadelphia: 21 percent

Summer pay is heating up
More than 3 in 4 employers hiring for the summer (79 percent) will pay their summer hires or interns $10 or more per hour on average — up from 74 percent in 2016. One in 5 employers (19 percent) plan to pay $20 or more per hour.

More than three-fourths of employers hiring for the summer (76 percent) plan to offer their seasonal workers pay increases if they work with their organization for more than one summer.

The types of jobs available
Although summer jobs are commonly associated with recreation and outdoor work, many employers whose companies are hiring for the summer say they are hiring for a variety of professional and support positions, including:

Engineering: 27 percent
IT: 27 percent
Customer service: 22 percent
Office support: 19 percent
Sales: 15 percent
Manufacturing: 12 percent
Banking: 11 percent
Retail: 9 percent
Research: 9 percent
Hospitality/leisure: 8 percent

Most unusual summer jobs
While lots of people find work as lifeguards or camp counselors, many go off the beaten path to find their summer paychecks. When asked what is the most unusual summer job they have ever had, employees said:

Being a theme park ride tester
Wrangling alpacas
Tagging turtles on a Florida beach
Being a carnivore keeper at a big cat rescue center
Getting bitten by mosquitos for pay
Setting headstones onto grave sites
Picking up cigarette butts at an arcade
Delivering telegrams dressed as Groucho Marx
Flipping college dorm rooms into hotel-like suites for a business conference
Arranging butterflies to be sold to collectors

When is the right time to apply?
For job seekers hoping to secure a seasonal position, now is the time to get applications out the door. Thirty-four percent of employers hiring for the summer say they typically complete their hiring in May — 31 percent are already done (typically finish in April or before). Twenty percent finish in June, 9 percent in July and another 7 percent in August.

Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,587 hiring and human resource managers (employed full-time, not self-employed, including 2,380 in the private sector) and 3,420 employees (employed full-time, not self-employed) between February 16 and March 9, 2017 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With pure probability samples of 2,587 and 3,420, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have sampling errors of +/- 1.93 and +/- 1.68 percentage points, respectively. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About CareerBuilder®
CareerBuilder is a global, end-to-end human capital solutions company focused on helping employers find, hire and manage great talent. Combining advertising, software and services, CareerBuilder leads the industry in recruiting solutions, employment screening and human capital management. It also operates top job sites around the world. Owned by TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA), Tribune Media (NYSE: TRCO) and McClatchy (NYSE: MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

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¹ Small base size (less than 100)

SOURCE CareerBuilder