Santa Claus Isn’t Coming To Town: What’s Behind The St. Nick Shortage?

ACROSS AMERICA — Talk about the ultimate supply chain woe: More often this year than in those preceding it, Santa Claus isn’t coming to town.

HireSanta “head elf” Mitch Allen told Patch he would need to hire “thousands and thousands of Santas” to grant every wish for a living, breathing and ho-ho-ho-ing Santa this year.

Allen’s stable of Santas show up at malls, company holiday parties, family gatherings and at front doors to deliver everything from engagement rings to puppies. If you need a Santa — or a Mrs. Claus, or elves, or any of the characters associated with the season — chances are Allen can help you.

Or could have. Pent-up demand for traditional Christmas rituals is quickly draining the rent-a-Santa pool.

“We get hundreds of requests every day and have to turn them down,” Allen said, adding that clients of his Dallas-Fort Worth-based business are already booking Santas for 2023.

The Santa shortage is nationwide.

“It really is throughout the nation,” Allen said. “Where the population is, is where we have shortages.

“There’s not much we can do,” he continued. “You can’t just make a Santa out of nothing. We just have to tell them we’re very sorry.”

A tight labor market is making it difficult to hire elves and helpers, Allen said, but stand-in Santas and other holiday characters aren’t always lured by the opportunity to make some holiday cash.

Playing Santa is a good seasonal gig, though, paying anywhere from $5,000 to $12,000, Allen said.

“That’s good seasonal income,” he said. “For the most part, it’s not about the money, but bringing the love and joy of Christmas for the people they’re in contact with.”

HireSanta’s globetrotting St. Nicks are stationed as far away as Dubai, which Allen said underscores the need to book early. Clients who are flexible and able to shift their events to a Monday or Tuesday night may still be in luck, but the most popular dates for Santa entertainment — Saturdays in December and Christmas Eve — are booked.

HireSanta, which got its start in 2012 and was selected for investment on NBC’s “Shark Tank” in 2018, recently acquired Santa Claus & Co., which had been in business for 50 years. The coronavirus pandemic changed Santa traditions, in large part sending the jolly old man online in events, but also opening new opportunities for racially diverse Santas.

Now that the worst of the pandemic appears to be over, Allen said demand is up 30 percent from last year and 120 percent from pre-pandemic levels.

“Demand is the story this year, for Santa Claus entertainers and for all holiday entertainment,” he said. “People aren’t as concerned about COVID and are treating it like the flu — not that it’s over, but something they have to deal with.”

And speaking of that, proxy Santas and the companies that employ them remain concerned the children and others they interact with will spread more than good cheer as flu, RSV and COVID-19 continue to circulate across the country.

With COVID-19 rates far below what they were at Christmastime in 2020 and 2021, the pandemic “is just not top of mind and people aren’t concerned in the way they have been the last couple of years,” Allen said.

He emphasized, though, that “Santa safety is our No 1 concern,” whether it's the integrity of the chair Santa sits on or the health of the people he interacts with.

“Santa is at a higher likelihood of COVID,” Allen said, referring to both the average age of Santas and pre-existing conditions they may have.

There’s more to acting as Santa’s proxy than putting on a red suit and having a big belly. Allen’s Santas aren’t slouches.

They’ve all passed background checks and are insured. They have all been to a recognized Santa Claus school, and some are teachers. Most have real beards.

“This is who they identify as year-round,” Allen explained. “When you see them, they look like Santa and personify that love and joy of Christmas. They take the role very seriously.”

HireSanta is still taking applications for Santa jobs next year. Successful candidates should be adventurous enough to arrive in helicopters and small aircraft and fair-minded enough to understood that “accidents do happen” when dealing with children asked to sit on a complete stranger’s lap, according to Allen.

“If you’re a Santa long enough, you’re going to get spit up on, thrown up on or have to deal with a messy diaper,” he said. “It goes with the territory.”

Kids don’t end up on the naughty list because of it, either.