Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s plan to hire 4,000 seasonal workers and will hold a national hiring event on Oct. 7 and 8, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas’ holiday hiring outlook published Sept. 23. For a retiree weighing a few months of paid work, the figures that matter are the size of the seasonal market, the way a paycheck interacts with Social Security, and what comes out of each check.
A forecast below the weakest season since 2008
The Challenger outlook forecasts 450,000 retail seasonal hires in the fourth quarter of 2026. That number is a projection, not a result. It sits below the 461,500 retailers added in the fourth quarter of 2025, which Challenger called the smallest seasonal gain since 2008, and well under the 543,100 added in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Andy Challenger, the firm’s chief revenue officer, wrote that “prices are still high, tariffs continue to work through supply chains, and Retailers are leaning on automation, existing associates, and on-demand pools before hiring net-new seasonal workers.” Transportation and warehousing added 266,500 positions in the fourth quarter of 2025, down 12% from 2024 and the lowest fourth quarter since 2018.
Why an announced target is not a job offer
A hiring target is a ceiling set by the employer, and Challenger’s reading is that retailers are filling seasonal work first from people already on the payroll and from on-demand pools. That means a newcomer, including a retiree, competes with existing associates for the same shifts, and the 4,000 Bass Pro figure describes the company’s intent, not the number of openings any one store will post. The Oct. 7 and 8 event is a place to apply, and the outlook does not say whether it produces offers on the spot.
Which retailers have named numbers, and which have not
Spirit Halloween is the largest announced hirer, with 52,000 associates across 1,575 stores, the biggest in the company’s history. Michaels plans more than 10,000 seasonal team members. Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s, at 4,000, will hold what Challenger calls a National Hiring Event on Oct. 7 and 8. Amazon, Bath & Body Works, Target and Kohl’s have historically announced early targets, and Challenger reports none of them has yet given a 2026 number.
The company’s careers site lists job categories and a link to current openings, but the page read on Sept. 30 carried no mention of the event, seasonal roles or pay. Challenger’s outlook is the source for the dates, and it contains no information on pay rates, hours or age, so the hourly wage of a Bass Pro seasonal job is not established here.
How a seasonal paycheck meets the Social Security earnings test
For a retiree who has already claimed benefits before full retirement age, wages can reduce the check. The Social Security Administration’s earnings test page says that for someone under full retirement age all year, the agency deducts $1 from benefits for every $2 earned above the annual limit, which is $24,480 for 2026. In the year a worker reaches full retirement age, $1 is deducted for every $3 above a higher limit of $65,160, and beginning the month full retirement age is reached, earnings no longer reduce benefits.
The limits are annual totals, so a short holiday job adds to whatever else was earned in 2026. A worker who has already reached full retirement age is outside the test altogether. Because the sources give no Bass Pro wage or schedule, no estimate can be drawn from them of whether a seasonal stint would approach the $24,480 line, and the agency’s page is the place where the current rules are stated.
What comes out of a seasonal check
Wages from a seasonal job carry payroll withholding regardless of age. The IRS’s Topic 751 gives the 2026 employee rates as 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare, with the Social Security wage base at $184,500 and no wage-base cap on Medicare. A retiree earning a few thousand dollars over the season would see 7.65% of gross pay withheld for those two taxes before any federal income tax withholding. A seasonal paycheck will not come near the $184,500 Social Security wage base, so both taxes apply to every dollar of it.
Challenger’s August job-cuts report frames the hiring environment from the other side: 12,325 announced hiring plans in August, up 725% from a year earlier, and 119,825 year to date, up 37%. Andy Challenger noted that 46% of those plans come from manufacturing industries, and that “it doesn’t appear those positions are being filled quickly.” Plans announced across the economy, in other words, have not translated into filled jobs at a pace that would ease a retiree’s search.
The Sept. 23 outlook remains the only source for the 4,000 figure and the Oct. 7 and 8 dates, both of which are announced plans rather than completed hiring.
Debt-collector contact rules for people on fixed incomes
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This article was produced with AI assistance and checked against the primary sources linked above.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
