Whether he comes dashing in on his sleigh, arrives suited and booted via an agency or is straight from
the Amalgamated Order of the Real Bearded Santas, he is on just about every street corner in our global cities right now and clocks more overtime this season than any other worker.
In some markets Santa Claus is sourced as a specialist, described as anything from childcare worker to family therapist to high-speed pilot and can make an average of up to
USD 200 per hour (although a skydiving Santa on Christmas Eve commands well above this).
But even this seasonal role is not immune to the skills shortages many sectors worldwide contend with throughout the year. In this profession, it is language skills that are in short supply, especially in the US.
"There are not many bilingual Santas around and there probably is a need," said J. Paul Raines, Rocky Mountain regional director for the Amalgamated Order of Real Bearded Santas, in an article on
MSNBC.com.
All Santas, he goes on to say, should learn to say "Merry Christmas," "I love you" and "What do you want for Christmas?" in Spanish.
Perhaps more cross border recruitment could be useful in sourcing bilingual Santa’s. Afterall, Santa does make it from the North Pole to millions of homes around the world on Christmas Eve and is clearly no stranger to foreign travel.