More than a third of retailers (37%) plan to hire fewer Christmas staff this year than in 2007, with a further 26% offering overtime to cover busier periods.

According to research from Kronos, only 5% of retailers plan to hire more Christmas temps this year than in 2007.

Stephen Macpherson, operations director at Kronos, said: "A hiring freeze is unlikely to save money if retailers are paying overtime to cover busy periods, Retailers need to find a way to automate and optimise employee schedules in order to make the very best use of all available employees and reduce the need to either pay overtime or hire extra staff.

"It's a tough trading environment and retailers must be able to differentiate on customer service. A freeze on hiring may save costs, but it is likely to have a negative impact on sales."

Seven out of 10 retail employers plan to use paper-based systems and spreadsheets to manage staff Christmas working schedules and, given increased staff, 42% of retailers expect the extra scheduling workload to take their HR departments five hours per week.