Jerry Haisler, director of the Central Texas Workforce in Killeen, said retailers in the area are not pulling back in placing job orders for seasonal help.
Haisler said Central Texas is fortunate to have a steady economy aided by the presence of Fort Hood. Traditionally the area has not followed the boom-bust cycle of other parts of the country.
“And when a soldier returns home from deployment you better believe money is going to be spent,” Haisler said.
He said temporary and seasonal hires are not necessarily laid off at the end of the traditional season, either.
“Sales after the first of the year have spurred as much spending after Christmas as before because of sales and gift cards,” he said.
Michael Williams, store manager of J.C. Penney Co. Inc. in the Temple Mall, said he is definitely hiring temps for the holiday season and will take applications over the next two to three weeks.
He said people hired would take part in an extensive training program. He plans on taking the first hires for the season in about two weeks.
He will take a look after the first of the year to see if any seasonal workers are kept on for after-Christmas sales.
Williams said there is always the chance a seasonal or part-time worker will be incorporated into a full-time position.
Small, established businesses in the local economy also are hiring temps. The owner of one well-known homegrown business, Marvin Green, said his staff will increase as usual to handle the holiday traffic through New Year’s at Green’s Sausage House at Zabcikville.
“I do pick up a few part-time people,” Green said. “The numbers - I really can’t tell you but we probably add 10 to 15 percent to our work force during that time.”
Green said his year-round workforce numbers 18.
“I’ve got a few people who have really good (full-time) jobs, but they like a little part time on weekends during the holiday season,” Green said. “And I’ve got some people semi-retired that don’t mind putting in a few hours during that time.”
Green said many come from the Zabcikville area.
“We are very fortunate that there are local people willing to work,” he said.
Large retailers and chain stores reported hiring nationally but could not give exact figures for the Temple-Belton-Killeen area.
Wal-Mart’s Anna Taylor, spokeswoman for the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer, said she could not give specific data on a city or region but that nationally the company planned to hire 20,000 to 25,000 seasonal temps from October through December.
“Hiring is done on a store-by-store basis,” she said “Anyone who is interested in a position should contact a local store through its customer service desk.”
She said there’s always the possibility a temporary position could become permanent, but that varies from store to store.
Maureen Rich, spokeswoman for Lowe’s - the home improvement retailer - said the October through December holiday is not the company’s big season.
“Spring is our big season,” Ms. Rich said. “It’s our holiday season. It’s when it’s busiest for us.”
She said Lowe’s does its seasonal hiring when the weather is pretty and people are thinking about home improvements and working in their yards.
Kyle Thompson, spokesman for Target Stores, said on short notice it would be difficult to say what the numbers for seasonal hires are at the store level or even regional level.
“I can tell you we’re still hiring for the season nationally, but what is happening on the local level depends on the store, its size and other factors,” Thompson said.
hclark@temple-telegram.com
