4 reasons to keep hiring during the holidays

The end of the year may be approaching, but that doesn’t mean candidates are switching to holiday mode.

Data from SEEK shows a spike in job ad views and applications throughout December and January, so it pays to continue hiring over the holiday season.

Operations tend to wind down for many businesses during December and it can take weeks for companies to get into the swing of a new year, but hitting pause on recruitment during this time means you could miss out on the ideal candidate for the job. 

Here are four reasons to keep posting job ads during the holiday season. 

Clare Ryan, enterprise account manager at SEEK, says many companies suspend their hiring activities during the holiday period, which means there’s less competition in the market for top talent. This can make it easier to attract and secure the best candidates. 

“Our data shows that the number of job ads posted in December drops off significantly, but the number of candidate views increases,” says Ryan. 

“This means it’s a really good opportunity for employers to have their job ads live at this time of the year,” she says. 

“Job ads on SEEK are live for 30 days, so they can be working for you while you're on holiday. Even if you don’t plan to interview until the new year, it will help you to build awareness and engagement among candidates when your competitors may have shut down all hiring activities for the year.”

Candidates may be more open to exploring new opportunities during the holidays, especially if they’re looking for a change in the new year. 

“This is often the time when people do a reset and ask themselves, ‘How am I feeling about my job and my career?’,” says Nicole Gorton, director at recruitment firm Robert Half. “This is when organisations should capitalise by getting ahead of the game. I’ve seen so many companies benefit from it.”

Ryan adds that SEEK sees a significant spike in applications in January.

“People tend to think about a fresh start in the new year, and we see a high level of activity in candidates both viewing and applying for roles in January,” she says. 

Ryan also says that by advertising during the holiday season, you may capture the attention of candidates who have been too busy to search for a new job earlier in the year.

“I worked with a law firm that hired a senior legal counsel through a job ad on SEEK over the Christmas period,” she says. “The candidate had some downtime at the end of the year and decided to look at job ads, which they hadn’t had time to do earlier in the year.”

As the holiday season approaches, many industries experience a wind down in day-to-day operations. This means you may have more time to dedicate to recruitment and candidate engagement, to potentially fill positions faster.

“A high level of engagement with candidates during the hiring process – and condensing the process where possible – makes a huge difference at any time of the year,” says Gorton. 

“If you’re loose on your time-frame management, then you are more likely to lose candidates, so take any opportunity to tighten the process.”

If the holiday season is a quieter time in your organisation, you may have more time to fine-tune your job ads, and you can focus on finding the right fit rather than rushing to fill roles.

“Depending on the industry, many companies slow down their peripheral objectives at this time of the year,” says Gorton. “If your immediate task at hand is to add staff, the quieter time allows you to be more laser focused on the skills that you really need, because there is less urgency in other parts of your own role.”

While the end of the year might signal a wind down at your organisation, it may be the ideal time for you to dial up your hiring. With fewer job ads posted in the market and candidates with more time to view ads and submit applications, the holiday season could set you up to start the new year on a on a hiring streak.

Source: Independent research conducted by Nature on behalf of SEEK interviewing 12,000 Australians annually. Published November 2024.