As the holiday season approaches, stores hire additional help. This year, however, some stores are hiring fewer seasonal employees.

“[Seasonal help] has been decreased extremely this year,” said Steve White, customer experience manager at the DeKalb Best Buy, 2074 Sycamore Road.

White said while the store has already hired its seasonal help, it is now on a hiring freeze because of the falling economy. This year, instead of hiring new employees to help with the increased number of holiday shoppers, the store hired five to 10 transfer employees from other stores.

“The ability to bring in people who are already trained and ready to go made it a lot easier for the transition,” White said. “We want to make sure the company can save money through labor. The people we hired were higher quality than normal.”

Richard Robinson, store manager for the DeKalb Target, 2555 Sycamore Road, said his store has not been greatly affected during seasonal hiring due to the economy.

“There’s a few less [seasonal employees] than in years past, but we’re in pretty good shape out here,” Robinson said.

Whether area companies feel the effects or not, economics professor Khan Mohabbat believes the current economy definitely has had an effect on the job market.

“When the economy is robust, there are more job opportunities for everyone, including students,” Mohabbat said.

Some of the difficulties those searching for jobs may encounter are not always related to the economy.

Robinson said the DeKalb Target usually hires all its seasonal help back in October, but there still may be regular positions available. White said similarly that Best Buy, besides being on a hiring freeze, completed its seasonal hiring earlier in the year.

Mohobbat said while students may have difficulty in finding new jobs, this does not mean that they cannot land a new position.

“It really depends on how well they present themselves, how well they can convince the employer that the employer really needs them,” Mohobbat said.