Holiday season retail hiring on Long Island sank to lowest level in more than 30 years, state data shows

Local retail hiring at brick-and-mortar stores sank to its lowest level in more than three decades in the months leading up to the holidays, while employment of package delivery drivers, buoyed by growth in online shopping, continued to grow, state data shows.

The number of private-sector jobs on Long Island fell by 2,300 between November and December, compared with an average gain of 4,400 jobs, according to data released by the state Labor Department Thursday. The overall decline in jobs was due in part to weak growth in the retail sector, which normally sees hiring pick up significantly at the end of the year.

Shital Patel, labor market analyst with the state Labor Department’s Hicksville office, said retail, normally a major seasonal driver of jobs, had the “weakest holiday hiring season on record this year.” State records for Long Island employment date to 1990.

Retail employers hired a total of 3,800 workers from October through December, Patel said, when the sector typically adds 11,100 jobs during the same three-month period. The sector added 1,900 jobs in December, month over month, when an increase of 4,300 is the norm.

Adam Kamins, senior director at Moody’s Analytics and a lead regional economist covering Long Island, said retail hiring and sales have been weak nationwide, and he points to inflation and consumer confidence as the key factors behind it.

“Given the state of the economy and what things cost, people aren’t spending the way they have the last couple of years,” Kamins said.

Additionally, a tight labor market on the Island means “more alternatives for low-wage workers.”

Patel said that on top of factors like inflation, a broader trend that predates the pandemic has been the growth of online shopping and e-commerce businesses.

“As online shopping increased during the pandemic and shoppers expected same-day or next-day delivery of packages, Long Island became a warehouse destination,” she said.

Patel said there’s been a transition of jobs from retail to warehouse work, and couriers and messengers — a job category under the umbrella of the transportation and warehousing sector — has seen continued growth.

Last month, the broader courier and messenger industry, which includes package delivery services, was 3,300 jobs, or 34%, above pre-pandemic levels.

Joanna Mazzella, owner of Mint, a local chain of women’s clothing boutiques, said hiring has become more difficult.

“It’s definitely gotten harder over the last couple of years to find quality employees,” said Mazzella, whose business employs around 20 workers across its four Island locations. “The type of employees that we’re looking for, committed, very fashionable, and reliable … it’s gotten harder to find, and I don’t see it getting easier.”