For most retailers, the holiday season is their best opportunity for critical year-end revenue. But tighter timelines and higher hiring volumes mean that the holidays are also a high-stakes pressure test for their hiring processes.
To staff up for the holiday season, retailers need to filter through a massive influx of applicants, vet and onboard new hires at scale, all while trying to build a team that can survive the December rush.
In this article, we’ve broken down the three pillars of a successful seasonal retail hiring strategy: screening for necessary job requirements, mitigating risk, onboarding for speed, and managing for retention and future recruitment. Read on for best practices to guide your seasonal retail hiring strategy this year:
Top challenges of seasonal retail hiring
- Shortened training and onboarding: Due to the urgent need for staff, companies may rush screening and onboarding, leading to less prepared employees who take longer to reach full productivity.
- High turnover and attrition rates: Seasonal roles often see high employee churn because the temporary nature of the job provides less incentive for long-term commitment, causing constant, exhausting re-hiring.
- Potential for compromised quality: Without proper safeguards, just-in-time hiring can lead to less effective vetting and evaluation, which can result in hiring inexperienced workers who may be more susceptible to making costly mistakes.
- Recruiting and onboarding costs: Last-minute or high-volume hiring is expensive. The costs of background checks, drug screens, and training add up quickly, often cutting into the profitability of the seasonal period.
- Burnout for core staff: When seasonal workers are inexperienced or unqualified, the burden can fall on the core team, leading to low morale, overwork, and an increased risk of losing loyal employees.
Best practices for seasonal retail hiring and screening
Move quickly to secure top talent
Retail employers should make contact with hourly job-seekers within 24 hours of receiving their application, says Dave Kenney, General Manager of Efficient Hire, an Equifax company, and an expert on hourly workforce management. “Hourly job seekers need a job immediately and if our managers don’t hire quickly, then our competitors across the street will,” he added in a blog post for Equifax.
Kenney also recommends that seasonal employers use “mobile-first and simplified engagement tools including texting to apply or to schedule interviews,” so they can interview, extend offers and onboard more quickly.
Background screening: speed meets safety
When you’re rushing to meet your holiday hiring deadlines, it may be tempting to cut corners on steps that come after an offer is accepted, like background screening. However, the cost of a “bad hire” — hiring someone that doesn’t meet your business needs or requirements — in retail is high.
Hiring an individual who doesn’t meet your standards can expose your business to many possible consequences, including:
- Direct costs (the costs of recruitment, training and replacement)
- Indirect costs (decreased productivity, turnover, manager time)
- Damaged merchandise, lost customers and/or negative brand reputation as a result of poor customer interactions or inexperience
- Theft of funds, merchandise or proprietary information
- Increased potential for safety and other violations
Thorough background screening can give you the information necessary to decide whether each individual meets your organization’s standards.
However, running background checks at scale can introduce new challenges for employers, especially if they already struggle to onboard new hires quickly.
Keep these considerations in mind as you evaluate your background check strategy for the holiday season.
Background screening considerations for seasonal retail hiring
Rescreen returning alumni
Seasonal talent pools often include repeat hires. If these individuals passed their original background check, it may be tempting to forgo another when they rejoin your organization. However, if it has been months or years since their last background check, there may be new information in their background that require your review and consideration (e.g., a new criminal conviction).
Consider running rescreens on returning employees to confirm that they are still eligible to work at your company.
Prioritize candidate experience to reduce drop-off
The holiday hiring cycle is fast-paced and crowded. In 2025, retail applicants averaged 43 applications per opening—a significant jump from 35 the year before. Time to fill also increased from 40 to 42 days, according to a 2025 report from talent acquisition software company iCIMS.
Unexpected friction in your background check process could delay start dates and lead to candidates accepting other offers. To speed up your onboarding process, look for ways to speed up your background checks.
Some suggestions include:
- Choose a background screening partner with a mobile-friendly candidate portal
sfor easy completion of background check authorization and simplified document uploads
- If you’re hiring nationwide, prioritize vendors that have a national presence, as well as processes for expediting criminal record checks in areas with known delays (See how JC Penney mitigates court delays with Accurate here.) Provide clear contact information for your background screening vendor so candidates can get questions answered more quickly.
Choose your background screening partners wisely
Any background check vendor can produce a criminal record check. But not every vendor can meet the specific needs of retail businesses. Consider these factors as you evaluate potential background screening partners:
- Look for partners that help you simplify drug testing. Many retailers include drug tests in their background check process. But if it takes too long for new hires to schedule a drug test, or your contracted drug clinics are too far from your candidates, candidates could accept another offer instead. Look for background screening partners that allow candidates and employees to schedule their drug test while submitting the rest of their information for their background check; have a wide network of clinics in the areas where you’re hiring; and have sufficient turnaround times for drug tests, as well as acceptable processes for handling non-negative and inconclusive tests.
- Ask vendors about their turnaround times. Speed is one of the most important factors in seasonal hiring. Look for partners with tools that’ll speed up the process for candidates, like mobile-first technology and self-service document upload.
- Follow all relevant jurisdiction, state and national background screening rules and regulations. In addition to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), employers should also comply with applicable “ban-the-box,” “fair chance” and drug testing laws when conducting background checks for employment (this can vary based on the candidate and/or the employer’s location). These rules and regulations often vary by jurisdiction and state, and each has its own specific requirements that hiring managers may need to follow when a) conducting background checks and drug tests, and b) when making a hiring decision based on the results.
Navigating this patchwork of rules is never easy. It’s even more challenging during a high-volume hiring cycle, especially if individual hiring managers are responsible for conducting background checks for their own store.
For instance, when hiring an employee from out of state, individual hiring managers may not know if a “fair chance” laws appliesy to based on that candidate’s location, or how they should follow the location’s applicable adverse action and individual assessment procedures. (For example, certain jurisdictions may require providing the candidate with written documentation their of an individual assessment, but other jurisdictions may not.)
Suggestion:
- Consider creating a “compliance matrix” for background screening: a structured, role-based tool that defines, in advance, which offenses directly relate to specific job duties, as well as applicable screening laws and requirements in different jurisdictions. These tools can help you standardize screening criteria across store locations and create a more consistent screening program.
- Consider centralizing your background screening program (i.e., handling background checks at HQ rather than on a per-store basis) to improve consistency
- Consider working with a credible third-party background screening provider.
- Look for updates regarding background screening from the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA), as well as background screening providers like Accurate.
Emphasize onboarding
Given their limited tenure, temporary hires need a strong start in order to be effective during their employment.
A formal onboarding program can help many retail employees make a stronger impact: TechClass’s Seasonal Onboarding Guide found that organizations with strong onboarding programs see productivity improve by over 70%, underscoring how a good start benefits both employer and worker.
Poor onboarding can lead to rapid turnover: In the same report, 80% of new hires who have a subpar onboarding experience said they planned to quit.
Get your seasonal hires up to speed more quickly with these tips from TechClass’s Customizing onboarding for seasonal and contract workers:
- Use checklists and standardize processes to prevent delays and reduce confusion.
- Streamline and prioritize essential training: The TechClass article recommends using a staggered onboarding program, focusing on mission-critical job functions first and then teaching less critical tasks progressively throughout the first weeks of employment.
- Leverage group orientations and peer support: The article also emphasizes the importance of community in helping new seasonal hires succeed. Recommended strategies include conducting group orientations, matching new hires with mentors, and creating a buddy system so new hires can get questions answered more quickly.
- Provide just-in-time training aids: Distributing short weekly refreshers or tip sheets can reinforce job knowledge and be more effective than front-loading information in the employee’s first day or week, the article notes.
- Coordinate with your current team: Retail environments require seamless coordination between everyone on the floor. Prepare your managers and permanent staff for the influx of seasonal employees by defining each person’s roles and training responsibilities. Also monitor their workloads to ensure they aren’t overwhelmed by their new supervision duties.
Seasonal roles are by definition temporary. But the cost of making a “bad hire,” that doesn’t live up to your standards, or losing a seasonal worker before the season ends, is a big hit to your store’s productivity, scheduling and overall bottom line. By focusing on connection and clear management, and applying standardized and consistent screening and onboarding processes, you can keep your store staffed without taking on unnecessary risk, from Black Friday to the January returns rush.
