Holiday hiring: Even Santa feels the recession

Christmas comes every year, but even that doesn't guarantee job security, even for Santa and his helpers. This year, company holiday parties may be minus a Santa, while smaller gatherings and malls are still jolly.

Like millions of businesses around the country, Carl Immediato's Santa rental company in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Your Santa Too, has felt the blow of the recession. Although bookings for small, private parties are still strong, larger business parties have dwindled to about 75%. Immediato feels that a lot of these losses have to do with guilt that companies feel about cutting back on staff. It's hard to spend money on party entertainment and look your employees in the eyes after people have been let go.

The loss of large company parties means that Immediato is appearing at smaller, private ones. But the smaller size doesn't mean he takes his job any less seriously. This Santa, who usually charges between $200 and $220 an hour, strives to provide the character, story telling and even some history about Christmas traditions. Despite the cut back in large parties, Immediato devotes about 20% of his time volunteering. He likes to lend his time to the Salvation Army, where he started as a bell ringer in 1993.