RETAILERS GLUM OVER SHORTAGE OF HOLIDAY WORKERS.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

While many retailers are anticipating stronger sales this Christmas season, they have a new problem to contend with: finding enough workers to run the cash registers and stock the shelves.

Retailers nationwide are having trouble recruiting seasonal workers, with a healthier U.S. economy and low unemployment levels narrowing the employee pool. And that may mean long lines at cashiers if retailers are unable to hire enough qualified sales help.

``The No. 1 problem for retailers is not that they expect this to be a soft year - it is finding a staff,'' said Dr. Paul Kozlowski, a business economics professor at the University of Toledo in Ohio.

Retailers, who depend on the holidays for up to 50 percent of their annual sales, are fairly optimistic about this holiday season, with the economy in better health than a year ago.

Consumer confidence is up significantly from last Christmas and the national unemployment rate is close to a seven-year low, at 5.2 percent in October, with some states coming in even lower.

Holiday merchandise is already on display at many stores and some are already promoting preholiday sales. Retailers are looking to hire extra workers now and plan to keep them on through the postseason sales in January.

Over the past five years, retailers boosted their staffs by an average of about 3.5 percent during the holidays, according to the National Retail Federation, a trade group.

But finding seasonal staff this year has been tricky in some parts of the country, especially those areas with extremely low unemployment levels like many Midwest and Southern states. Fewer people are looking for work and many feel more secure about the economy.

``Go into our malls, and every single retailer has a help-wanted sign up,'' said David Plawecki, deputy director of the Michigan Employment Security Commission in Lansing. ``We are seeing a huge reversal from a year ago.''

The MESC and the Michigan Retailers Association together are touting the benefits of holiday jobs, including store discounts and potential for full-time employment.

Retailers also are using incentive programs, employee referrals and heavy advertising to lure workers.

``There's competition in the marketplace (for customer sales) and in the employment marketplace as well,'' said Bruce Van Kleeck, vice president at the National Retail Federation. ``Employees can pick and choose the retailers they would want to work for.''

But it's a mixed bag for other retailers.

Keith Foxe, spokesman for The Good Guys, an electronics retailer based in Brisbane, Calif., said his company struggles every holiday season to find quality help.

``Our people tend to need more skill than in other retail jobs because of the nature of the product and the service we give shoppers,'' Foxe said.

The company hires about 10 holiday workers at each store.

It's not much different at The Gap, the San Francisco-based clothing retailer.

Company spokeswoman Beverly Butler said its always hard to find seasonal workers.``It's pretty difficult to find people who want to work for four or five months and this year is no different,'' she said.

Worker shortages, however, are not everywhere. Many large retailers are still getting an influx of inquiries for holiday help and locales with high unemployment, like New York, Chicago and other major cities, are facing continued demand from job seekers.

That may be why North Hollywood-based Robinsons-May, which has 56 upscale department stores in the West, had no trouble filling out its holiday payroll.

``It hasn't been a problem at all,'' said company spokesman John Waterson. ``In fact, we've probably had the highest quality people come in the store that we've ever seen.''

CAPTION(S):

Photo, 2 Charts

Photo: (Color) Elves needed

Chart: (1-2) Holiday employment

Associated Press