Is it too late?
No, but the window is closing. Postings usually build through mid-November, then drop sharply by year-end (Indeed Hiring Lab, October 15, 2026). Amazon will post new roles weekly through December, and they "can fill quickly" (Amazon, October 20, 2026). UPS says you could start the week after you apply (UPS events page, read October 31, 2026). Jobs can go fast: a UPS handler job in Dallas posted October 31 read "has been filled" that same day.
Each week you wait costs money. This is arithmetic through the week of December 21, not a promise of hours or an end date.
Scroll horizontally to view every column.
| You start the week of | Weeks worked | 25 hours at $21 | 40 hours at $20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 9 | 7 | $3,675 | $5,600 |
| November 16 | 6 | $3,150 | $4,800 |
| November 30 | 4 | $2,100 | $3,200 |
| December 7 | 3 | $1,575 | $2,400 |
Our read: apply by mid-November for the best choice of shifts. After Thanksgiving (November 26), take a job only if it can start within days. After about December 7, spend your time on jobs hiring in January instead.
Who is hiring right now
We read each employer's page or one posting on October 31, 2026. Postings can close within hours, so search the careers site named in each row. A plan is not a count of openings near you.
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| Employer | 2026 plan | Pay we read | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| UPS | More than 100,000 seasonal (UPS, October 7, 2026) | Package handler $21.00, 1683 West 19th Street, Dallas. Support driver $23.00, Dallas; $28.00, Springfield, VA | jobs-ups.com. Job fairs into mid-November, none in Texas. UPS seasonal jobs |
| Amazon | Over 300,000 seasonal, part-time and full-time combined (Amazon, October 20, 2026) | Seasonal average $20. Listings "up to" $19.50 to $24.75 | New roles weekly. Amazon seasonal jobs |
| Target | No 2026 number on its site | $16.00 start, Dallas. $19.25 to $28.90, Washington, DC. Its 2025 range was $15 to $24 (Target, September 23, 2025) | Events in 13 states: corporate.target.com/careers/seasonal-events |
| Walmart | No number in its newsroom | "Seasonal Team Associate" $14.50 to $27.50, Dallas; $16 to $29, Abington, MA | Plan on the low end. careers.walmart.com |
| Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Bluemercury | No total (Macy's, September 24, 2026) | Range shown on each posting | Apply in person at any store on Thursday, November 19. On-the-spot offers were promised only for September 24 |
| Dick's and Foot Locker | Over 11,000 (Dick's, October 15, 2026) | "Competitive hourly pay"; no rate in the release | October 21 signing day has passed. Hiring continues until filled. dicks.com/jobs |
| Michaels | More than 10,000 in the U.S. and Canada (Michaels, September 10, 2026) | No rate in the release | September 12 hiring day has passed. careers.michaels.com |
| Kohl's | No 2026 number on its careers page | Weekly pay; no rate in the listing we read | Search careers.kohls.com/seasonal |
| Bath & Body Works | No 2026 release through October 26. 2025 plan: more than 30,000 (September 8, 2025) | $16.00, Orlando, FL, with DailyPay | careers.bathandbodyworks.com |
| FedEx | No 2026 number on its careers site | Seasonal handler $18.25, Irving, TX, paid weekly | careers.fedex.com |
| USPS | No national total found | Holiday Clerk Assistant $21.44, Texas (USPS, October 30, 2026); $21.89, South Carolina (USPS, September 14, 2026) | Texas window closes November 3 (Abilene, Alpine, Austin, Dripping Springs, Fredericksburg, Laredo). jobs.usps.com |
USPS postings typically open Fridays and close Wednesdays (USPS, read October 31, 2026). For wide ranges, see how to read pay on a job posting.
What you will take home
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| Job and rate | Hours a week | Gross | Social Security and Medicare | Federal tax withheld | Take-home |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Store, $16.00 | 20 | $320.00 | $24.48 | $1.04 | $294.48 |
| FedEx handler, $18.25 | 20 | $365.00 | $27.92 | $5.54 | $331.54 |
| UPS handler, $21.00 | 25 | $525.00 | $40.16 | $21.54 | $463.30 |
| Full-time, $20.00 | 40 | $800.00 | $61.20 | $54.08 | $684.72 |
| Full-time with 10 overtime hours, $20.00 | 50 | $1,100.00 | $84.15 | $90.08 | $925.77 |
How we figured this: 7.65% for Social Security and Medicare (IRS Topic 751, updated September 24, 2026). Federal withholding for a single filer with a standard W-4, paid weekly (IRS Publication 15-T, 2026). Overtime at time and a half over 40 hours (U.S. DOL, read October 31, 2026). No state income tax, as in Texas; most states take more.
Withholding assumes you earn this rate all year. A single filer earning under $16,100 in 2026 owes no federal income tax (IRS, October 9, 2025), so file a return to get it back. More: your first paycheck explained.
Plan on the low end of hours, because few seasonal jobs promise any:
- FedEx part-time: one shift a day, generally 3 to 6 hours. That is 15 to 30 hours over five days (Irving posting, read October 31, 2026).
- UPS helpers and support drivers: work is offered each morning based on need (UPS postings, read October 31, 2026).
- Amazon: schedules are 30 to 40, 0 to 29 or 0 to 19 hours a week (Amazon benefits page, read October 31, 2026).
UPS, Amazon, FedEx and Kohl's state weekly pay (employer pages, read October 31, 2026). Most Target workers are paid every two weeks, per jobs with weekly pay (reviewed October 21, 2026).
Where to start
Scroll horizontally to view every column.
| If you | Start here | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Have a car, are 21 or older, no experience | UPS seasonal support driver | Work is offered day by day, for about five weeks (Teamsters, August 22, 2023) |
| Have no license, can lift 70 pounds | UPS handler or helper, or FedEx handler | Shifts can start around 3 AM. Helpers must be ready within 30 minutes (UPS, read October 31, 2026) |
| Want the most hours | Amazon full-time seasonal, or UPS delivery driver (21 or older) | Amazon: unpaid appointment, drug test. UPS: DOT physical, driving test |
| Cannot lift heavy loads | Store jobs | Lower pay. Do not say you can lift what you cannot. Ask about an accommodation |
| Want to stay after January | Read seasonal to permanent first | No employer promises a spot |
Addresses and rates: seasonal jobs in Dallas.
Your one-week checklist
- Saturday, October 31. Find your ID documents. UPS wants originals, not copies (UPS, read October 31, 2026). See documents you need to start a job. Write down the hours and shifts you can really work.
- Sunday, November 1. Apply to two fast employers. UPS says many applicants get an offer in less than 7 minutes (UPS, October 7, 2026). Amazon's application takes about 20 minutes, then an unpaid in-person appointment (Amazon, read October 31, 2026).
- Monday, November 2. Apply to one store and one other parcel job. Save each posting. Log them in the application tracker.
- Tuesday, November 3. Last day of the USPS Texas window. Elsewhere, search "holiday" on jobs.usps.com before Wednesday.
- Wednesday, November 4. Check email and texts. Book any appointment you were offered. See if UPS lists a job fair near you.
- Thursday, November 5. Compare offers: rate times the low end of hours, pay schedule, shift and end date. Ask for any end date not shown.
- Friday, November 6. Choose. Buy the shoes the job requires; UPS rules out sneakers (UPS, read October 31, 2026). Keep Macy's November 19 event as a backup.
The season in numbers
- Challenger, Gray & Christmas expects retailers to add about 450,000 jobs in the fourth quarter, down from 461,500 in 2025, the smallest gain since 2008 (September 23, 2026). It called announced seasonal hiring "muted" (October 1, 2026).
- NRF expects 325,000 to 375,000 seasonal retail hires, near its estimate of 356,000 last year (October 15, 2026). The two forecasts count differently, so do not compare them.
- Indeed says seasonal postings were up about 10% from last year as of September 30, and desktop searches rose about 28%. At large employers, the seasonal share of postings fell from 34% to about 20%, and the part-time share rose from 38% to 49% (October 15, 2026).
Search "part-time" as well as "seasonal."
What happens in January
Most seasonal jobs end. In five retail industries, stores added 492,000 workers from October to December 2024 and laid off 463,000 in January and February 2025 (BLS, November 17, 2025). In January 2026, job searches on Indeed ran up to 31% above early December while postings stayed flat (Indeed Hiring Lab, February 19, 2026). So apply for January work in December.
- Ask about staying in your first two weeks and again in early December.
- Each state sets its own unemployment rules, so call your state workforce agency. You usually must have lost work through no fault of your own and earned enough in a base period (U.S. DOL, read October 31, 2026). See unemployment benefits. This is not legal advice.
Current openings
See warehouse jobs, retail jobs and delivery jobs, or by city: Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago. Hiring events by city: job fairs.
More warehouse openings
Current source-linked listings could not be confirmed in this sample. Check the category search and each original posting for availability.
How to verify a listing
Every opening on JobPin links to its source posting. Open it, check the date and the word "seasonal" or "temporary," and confirm the pay on the employer's site before you give personal information. Honest employers never ask you to pay to get a job or send you a check to deposit (FTC, March 2023). More: job scam warning signs and how JobPin verifies listings.
How JobPin dates and sources listings: How JobPin verifies listings and events. Report a listing.