'Tis the Season for Winter Temp Jobs

Leaves turning scarlet don't just herald the coming of fall – they signal the start of seasonal hiring for winter jobs. Recession or no, many businesses must staff up, either to maximize sales during the critical holiday selling season or to get their business off to a good start in 2010.

With unemployment high, it'll be a competitive hiring season this year, so start your search early. In a survey of more than 1,000 hiring managers conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs, only 58 percent said they planned to hire as many workers as last year.

On the bright side, those temp jobs stand a decent chance of turning into permanent hires if companies are pleased with workers' performance – in the survey, 51 percent said their temp hires could be asked to stay on, compared with 45 percent last year.