Pasadena, California -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/24/2010 -- Retailers may have already begun to screen applicants for temporary sales positions for this holiday season. They are expected to add around 500,000 to 600,000 jobs during the holiday months.

The report was prepared by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. CEO John Challenger has said that even if the firms are not in hiring mode till November, this is the time they start looking at the applications since they have thousands of positions to fill. In 2009, retailers hired a little over 500,000 employees from October through December.

Last week Toys “R” Us announced that it is going to hire 10,000 workers because it is going to open 600 temporary stores this season. Other big stores that are going to be needing lots of temporary employees are Target and Wal-Mart according to Challenger. The big retail chains need people not just as sales associates but also in their shipping facilities and stocking positions. Carriers like UPS and FedEx also need more people during this season.

CEO A. Harrison Barnes of Hound also believes that this is a good time to apply for these seasonal temp jobs. “These seasonal jobs are perfect for people looking for temp work. Since even the employer knows this is just temp work, you are not considered overqualified for these positions.” Hound is a job search engine that has been able to find 8,000 retail jobs posted on employer websites so far. The company expects more job postings in the next few days as the retail chains announce their plans for this holiday season.