What is Meant by Seasonal Unemployment?

Question: What is meant by seasonal unemployment?

Answer: Seasonal unemployment is the condition where people are unemployed for a particular season because of low demand for workers in the workforce. Some points related to seasonal unemployment are:

1. Many industries have too much work in a particular season and too little work in other seasons, so in seasons where companies have lots of work to do, they hire temporary employees for some direct jobs. Once the peak season ends, the temporary employees are laid off, leaving them unemployed.
2. To survive seasonal unemployment, employees find new temporary work which is seasonal too. This way, they keep on changing their job according to the season.
3. Most of the time, seasonal unemployment hits the particular industry at the same time every year.
4. Seasonal unemployment is very predictable because it occurs during a specific season, which is advantageous for employees who want to have temporary work and explore opportunities.
5. Examples of seasonal unemployment
6. When there is a crop sowing season, more workers are required, but once crops are sown, those workers are left with no work, so they become unemployed until the next sowing cycle.
7. When there is a vacation season, more people go to visit tourist places which means there will be a need for more hotel staff, once the vacation is over, many workers are laid off as they are no longer needed until the next vacation.
8. During summers, customers at ice-cream parlors and juice centers increase, thus they need more waiters to serve customers, but once the monsoon arrives, those temporary waiters are laid off.
9. During Diwali time, most people go shopping, be it for clothes or decorative items, etc, the workload of shopkeepers increases significantly and thus they hire temporary employees to help them during the festival season, once the festival is over, they are terminated from the job.