Searching for a holiday job?

MOBILE, Ala. - Lots of retail stores hire seasonal help for the holidays. And we know the unemployment rate is up, so there are a lot of people looking for a job. But are store managers hiring holiday help in this economy?

"We're not doing as much business like we used to and that's why," said Michelle Minchew, The Shoe Department.

In the past, when you went to the mall around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, it wasn't unusual to see a surplus of employees in many stores. But because of the economy, many of those stores have cut down on their number of holiday employees, if they're hiring any at all.

Minchew said The Shoe Department will not be hiring any seasonal employees this year.

"We're not because we're just going to give all the hours to our current employees," said Minchew.

Mandy Calderone, from Polish, says she hired half the number of seasonal employees this year, than last year. She is also giving more hours to her current employees.

"We did hire less holiday employees this year because our normal employees wanted more holiday work themselves," said Calderone.

They aren't the only stores cutting back.

"We hired about five people last year and we're looking at just two extra people for this holiday. Just a couple of people that we need for us to have a break in our day," said Chris Lee, Burgundy.

Managers at Burgundy said they went from getting new shipments every week, to getting new shipments twice a month.

"Business is so slow and I'm looking at about a 50/50 chance of having good business for this holiday. Christmas is the biggest season of the year and I can't guarantee it's going to be a good season," said Lee.

Sadly, no one can guarantee a good season, especially as more and more people lose their jobs. All we can do is hope the economy makes a turn for the better.