Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
Temp Jobs This Christmas: Christmas jobs are still available!
Nicola Kelly
29th Oct 2024
If you need a bit of extra cash for Christmas – and who doesn’t these days – then there are loads of seasonal jobs out there. Fancy dressing up a bit for work, then why not sign up to be a Santa or Elf helper? Or if your tastes are a little more conventional, then retail, pubs, bars and restaurants all need help to meet the festive rush.
It definitely is the season to be earning so happy yuletide job hunting.
- Christmas jobs with Royal Mail
- Work in retail – get paid to get discounts
- Deliver catalogues and brochures
- Christmas bar work
- Sell your stuff online
- More ways to make money at Christmas
- Find Christmas jobs available near you with our tool
- What are you doing to make money this Christmas?
Be a postie or sorter with Royal Mail
Millions of cards and presents will be winging their way across the world in the run up to Christmas Day so no surprise, it’s the busiest time of the year for the Royal Mail and that means that they need people like you.
Take a look at jobs.royalmailgroup.com to check out what jobs they have in your area. At the time of writing they were looking for mail sorters, parcel delivery drivers, LGV and MGV drivers and customer service staff in a variety of places across the country.
Work in retail: get paid and get discounts
There’s an added bonus to getting a job in retail, not only do you get paid an hourly rate but often there’s a pretty good staff discount too. And that surely will go some way to help get through those Christmas tunes playing on constant repeat.
SUPERMARKETS
Lots of supermarkets need what they call Festive Colleagues. These jobs can be really fun as you get to work in a team with people in a similar situation to yourself. There’s also all that Christmas spirit to soak up and as long as you can cope with Christmas tunes on repeat, you’re onto a winner!
Here are all the seasonal roles still available (at the time of writing):
Lidl and Aldi
Lidl and Aldi were voted the most popular supermarkets in the UK in 2023 so no surprise Aldi is hiring more than 1,000 temporary store colleagues over the Christmas period. They have an hourly rate of £12.40 or £13.65 if you live inside the M25. www.aldirecruitment.co.uk for more information and to apply.
Tesco are recruiting Festive Colleagues and hope to give applicants a bit of extra sparkle with their hourly rate of £12.02. They have opportunities across the country and offer a variety of shift patterns. You can sign up for job alerts or got to www.tesco-careers.com for more information.
Sainsbury’s temporary workers will be employed on fixed term contracts ranging from three to 12 weeks starting at £12 an hour. There is also a high demand for Christmas delivery drivers, including for Argos, starting at £13 an hour. Visit sainsburys.jobs/christmas
Morrisons too are hiring for seasonal retail, logistics and manufacturing roles across the UK. www.morrisons.jobs
John Lewis
Their Christmas advert has become one of the most anticipated on our TVs so perhaps not surprising for a company that puts so much into the festive period, their website www.jlpjobs.com says they are looking to recruit, with retail assistant roles starting at £11.55 an hour. Whether you want to find something in sales, stock or catering, you only have to make one application on their site.
Marks and Spencer
M&S has announced it will be recruiting 10,000 customer assistant roles in its stores over Christmas. Successful applicants also get a 20% colleague discount in addition to the average hourly rate of £12. jobs.marksandspencer.com
Boots
Boots are quick to point out that while their Christmas recruitment drive may be temporary, it could lead to a permanent role later on depending on the opportunities in your area. It’s a great confidence boost, helps you gain experience and some money in your pocket. www.boots.jobs will help you find what roles are local to you.
Amazon
Whether you are starting out in the job market or just looking to get out of the house, all of these retailers will provide training.
With their massive warehouses a part of the UK landscape these days, Amazon are always on the lookout for staff in their distribution centres which pay, on average, £§3.50 an hour. www.jobsatamazon.co.uk provides a handy search tool to see what is available in your area.
Deliver catalogues and brochures
Yet another potential Christmas gig. If you don’t mind getting out and about, there’s definitely money to be made delivering catalogues and brochures over the festive season.
The great thing about this sort of work is that you can do it in your own time. Perhaps run some deliveries before going into your other job or when you have a spare moment from preparing for Christmas.
If that’s something you’d like to pursue, check out websites such as:
And take a look at your local papers and newsagents for work opportunities.
One thing to note is that you should watch out for companies asking for cash deposits for the items you’re delivering. Avoid those because they’re likely to be scams.
Christmas Bar Work
Pubs and restaurants will be hoping for a bumper Christmas with office parties and celebrations and that means they need extra staff. Check your local bars and eateries. If you are willing to work Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve then you can expect to earn double the hourly rate of pay which will be a big boost to your finances.
Find out how to get bar work and restaurant work in our article here.
Promote clubs at Christmas
If you have a good network of friends and a wide social media presence, you could get paid to party by bringing in extra punters to clubs in cities all over the country. Admittedly, they might not have too much trouble getting people through the doors at the weekend but what about those quieter Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights?
And with added crowds they’ll need more doormen, bar staff and hosts and hostesses.
For more tips, read our article here with info on how to make money by partying!
Sell your stuff online
Now for some more home-based activities to help you make extra cash ahead of Christmas.
Start with selling. If you have a spare moment, why not upload all the things you don’t want to various online selling sites and use that money to buy presents. While it isn’t strictly a Christmas job, it’s a great way to make some money. You could even buy gifts on the same sites you’re selling your stuff. Very convenient!
Here on MoneyMagpie we have a whole section of our website dedicated to selling your stuff online. Just go to make money and then click on ‘sell your stuff’, you’ll be amazed at what you make money from!
ebay
If you really want a job that sticks closer to home then why not see what you could sell? A good clear out could unearth loads of stuff you never use or have been meaning to get rid of.
eBay is always a good place to start and you could even pick up some cheap gifts when you’re selling your own stuff.
It’s simple to use. Prepare your stuff, upload photos, set your price and wait for bids. You no longer have to pay selling fees either, so that’s more in your pocket!
More ways to make money at Christmas
Still need to fill your pockets for the Christmas budget? Try these ideas…
Make Christmas hampers to sell
Hampers make for a thoughtful gift everyone loves but they can be pretty expensive.
That’s actually good news for you. If you’re creative, you could make hampers and sell them at car boot sales, markets and even through local independent shops. It’s something you can easily do in your spare time at home. Perhaps you could even get your kids involved in getting the hampers ready?
To help you out, we’ve put together a detailed guide including information and links to products in our article on how to make hampers to sell.
So, let your imagination run wild and make hampers using boxes, pots and even watering cans. Perhaps have a look around your house and you might find other creative containers.
So long as you know how to make things look pretty, you can use things such as:
- cosmetics and foods from pound shops
- home-made cakes and sweets
- artisan oils, spices and vinegars
- home-made cosmetics and toiletries (learn how to make them here)
- anything else that looks cool!
Get creative and whatever doesn’t sell, you can recycle as presents for your friends and family.
What are you doing to make money for Christmas?
Christmas is known as a time you tend to spend more cash than usual but with a Christmas job sorted, you might just balance things out. So, make the most out of the festive season. Perhaps think of it as a great opportunity to bag yourself a great job so you really can have a merry Christmas and a happy new year.
Let us know in the comments below if you have come up with your own ideas for this season!
I have a good sort out of the kiddies toys. Then go online to sell them. Great way to declutter and make some money.
I save from October so that I don’t struggle in December. Always helps!
My top tip for making money is enter competition throughout the year & sell prizes you don’t need.
Gets the kids making cards and presents for family – saves money and means so much more!
Have a craft stall on a Christmas fair. We make cheap Christmas jewellery all year round and sell it all on a few events during December
Only buy food you’re actually going to eat at Christmas, don’t waste food or money.
I did some work on Upwork.com to make some money. It is easy enough to get work but the problem is getting the client to pay up, particularly if they are not UK based. Some people will say they are happy and then change their minds when you ask them to pay for what you have done. The commission rates for Upwork are very high but you can choose what work you bid for so it can bring in a little extra money.
I have been doing 6 extra hours a week at work from October.
I have sold a few things on ebay this last couple of months.
I add a couple of non perishables to my online food shopping order every week for about 2 months leading up to Christmas.
My top tip is to have a “Christmas Jar” and put any loose change in – it’s amazing how it mounts up, and really helps towards Christmas!
I usually save some over the months coming up to Christmas and then also make some gifts myself, homemade candles etc! Other than that, using discount sites and codes 🙂