Working Iowa: Holiday hiring push ahead of shopping rush [Video]

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – It’s Halloween week which means the holiday season is right around the corner and companies are trying to hire fast.

“There’s definitely right now a race to hire,” says Peggy Stover, Director of the Marketing Institute at the University of Iowa.

The National Retail Federation says shoppers are expected to spend $902 dollars on average between gifts, food, and other seasonal items.

“According to the National Retail Federation the spending trend, as far as a whole, is expected to increase slightly this year. So anywhere between two and a half and three and a half percent, so, definitely going into a good holiday season,” Stover said.

Ahead of the rush, large retailers like Amazon and Target are already hiring for thousands of season positions.

“Right now there is definitely a boom to hire seasonal workers. It’s expected anywhere between 400- 500,000 seasonal workers will be hired this holiday season,” …