How e-commerce is disrupting traditional seasonal work in retail

The holiday buying season is here, but the familiar rush of shopping and seasonal jobs is taking on a new shape as online shopping continues to shift the work landscape.

This year, retailers are expected to add 520,000 seasonal jobs, a drop from last year’s 564,000, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The decline signals a larger trend: the growing dominance of e-commerce.

“If you look at the pre-pandemic levels and where we are today in holiday 2024, you’ve had a pretty consistent increase in e-commerce sales and an increasing penetration,” said Tom Forte, managing director at Maxim Group.

Online shopping is continuing to siphon business from traditional brick-and-mortar stores, with 76% of American shoppers planning to buy at least half of their gifts online this year, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

The retail sector is projected to shrink by 0.2% annually over the next decade as in-store sales continue to decline and e-commerce expands. And for every new e-commerce fulfillment center opening, around 1,000 local jobs disappear, the National Bureau of Economic Research found. However, there is a silver lining, as online shopping is expected to create 450,000 jobs by 2026 in the U.S.

With this shifting workforce, the biggest names in retail are making adjustments. Amazon and UPS are leading the charge, adding 250,000 and 125,000 seasonal positions, respectively, most of which focus on fulfilling and delivering online orders.

On the shopping front, e-commerce has already had a notable impact this holiday season. Over the Thanksgiving-to-Cyber Monday weekend, online sales reached a record $41.1 billion, according to data from Adobe Analytics, with fewer shoppers visiting physical stores. In fact, Black Friday foot traffic dropped by nearly 2% compared to last year.

Watch the video above to find out more about how e-commerce is shifting hiring in the retail sector.