A struggling economy and a high unemployment rate is changing the face of the seasonal workers.
College students who are home for the holidays now have to compete with workers who have more work experience.
"I didn't know it was going to be this much of a rush for people to come out and get jobs now," said Brian Dixon the general sales manager for The Great American Cookie in Grapevine Mills. "I mean you're doing 10, 12 applicants a day for people that are overqualified."
Dixon said he hired two out of work IT professionals to help staff his store.
"A lot of them are looking for full-time jobs because they're out of work and again, (it is) taking away from all of the college guys that are coming back," he said.
While larger retailers are hiring seasonal workers and finding applicants are more experienced, some locally owned mom and pop shops are going without seasonal workers all together.
