Shipping Companies, Big Box Stores Hiring Holiday Help Now
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The holidays are still a couple months away, but already some people and companies are thinking about holiday shopping.
For months, Raymond Rubio has been looking for one specific type of laptop, but today decided he'll just have to settle for the next best thing.
"This one is only a 16 GB RAM," he said. "I wanted a 32 GB. They're not available. They won't be available until possibly the end of next year."
As he made his purchase he was told supply chain issues, especially problems at ports, could cause problems for some holiday shoppers.
"Some of the people there on site told me if you are going to buy electronics start buying them now," he said.
"That's been true since COVID hit," shopper Martha Weatherl said. "It's been hard to get things in stock."
According to a new CreditCards.com survey, more than 1 in 4 holiday shoppers plan to start making their purchases by the end of this month, while more than half plan to start before Halloween.
To get prepared, companies like Amazon, UPS, USPS and local big box stores are looking to hire holiday help immediately.
"We have a huge hiring," local retail employee Paul Rios said. "We're trying to get a lot of people because before we know it, it's going to be November."
"The sooner the better, right?" North Texas USPS spokesperson Albert Ruiz said. "We want to make sure that we're prepared."
Last holiday season, USPS processed and delivered more than a billion packages nationwide, up 25% from the year prior.
"So we're expecting probably equal to that same amount this year," Ruiz said.
In North Texas, he said USPS is now hoping to hire 1,500 seasonal employees and will be hosting two job fairs this week.
On Thursday, Sept. 16, USPS will host a job fair at the Dallas processing and distribution center from 9 a.m. to noon.
On Friday, Sept. 17, there will be another hiring event at the Spring Valley post office from 9 a.m. to noon.