A Special News Report on People And Their Jobs in Offices, Fields and Factories
CHRISTMAS JOB SEEKERS flood retailers, where demand lags.</br></br>Even though hiring for the holidays is as depressed as a year ago, when the recession was just beginning, Saks Fifth Avenue is experiencing an "exceptional" year for applications at its 49 stores, says Phil Johnson, a senior vice president. The flow of job-hungry applicants, strong last year, is even stronger now. Saks' New York store got 1,200 applications in October alone.</br></br>Saks waits longer to start hiring; and, for the first time ever, it won't advertise for Christmas help. The Kmart store on Detroit's Outer Drive gets 100 applications during the four hours each week it takes them; normally it hires 50 to 100 holiday workers, but this year it will add less than half that many. Michigan welfare cuts help spur a rash of applications at Detroit's Target store.</br></br>Plymouth (Mich.) Yard Hobbies is still waiting for a Christmas-related business surge expected three months ago; it will hire only one part-timer, instead of the usual two.</br></br>EMPLOYER CAUTION may increase under the civil-rights law.