This time of year, hundreds of thousands of seasonal retail workers across North America and Europe would usually be wrapping gifts, stirring hot chocolates, tidying Christmas displays or assisting the flurry of last-minute shoppers.
But the balance of available holiday jobs this year has radically shifted from storefront to warehouse and delivery amid record purchases online. And with millions of retail workers in the United States and Europe already laid-off, competition for what remaining jobs are left is fierce, economists say.