Why Seasonal Staff Don't Come Back: What to Ask Before Next Season

Short answer

Seasonal staff rarely leave for one reason, and they are rarely asked why. By the time a business notices that few people have reapplied, the season is over and the workers have moved on. Ask former and current seasonal staff about the weeks they actually worked:

• how shifts were scheduled and changed;
• where they lived and how they travelled;
• who they could turn to;
• what the return offer looked like.

Do it early enough for the answers to change next season's contracts, rotas and housing. Report how many people described each issue rather than a single "main reason".

Why exit data misses seasonal workers

Most retention processes are built for permanent employees who resign. Seasonal contracts end by design, so there is often no resignation, no exit interview and no record of why someone did not reapply. The CIPD turnover and retention factsheet covers both measuring turnover and understanding why people leave. For seasonal work, the loss shows up months after the contract ends: the next season's offer goes out and no reply comes back.

That gap has three consequences:

• the people with the answer have left and may be hard to reach;
• the people still employed may not have worked the same weeks or roles;
• the question gets answered by assumption, usually pay, because pay is the only variable visible from head office.

Pay may be part of the answer. It is rarely all of it, and it is not a finding until the workers say so.

What to ask about

Focus the conversation on events and conditions the person experienced. Each topic below can be asked as "tell me about the last time…" rather than "how satisfied were you with…".

The CIPD employee retention guide is a useful starting point for the wider retention picture. Include some of last season's returners as well: what kept them is evidence too.

Who to invite

Invite people who can describe the season first-hand:

• seasonal staff who did not return, if they agreed to be contacted;
• seasonal staff who did return, as a comparison;
• supervisors who scheduled and managed them;
• the person who handles accommodation or travel, if the business provides it.

Keep each group visible in the findings. A point raised by six of eight non-returners and none of the returners means something different from a point everyone raised.

A fictional example: three hotels, one season

A fictional hotel group has three coastal sites, and 9 of its 40 seasonal housekeeping and kitchen staff have reapplied. Head office assumes a competitor paid more.

The group asks ten former staff, four returners and three supervisors about their weeks:

• Seven of the ten non-returners describe rotas published on Friday for the following Monday, then changed at least once a week.
• Five describe a staff house a forty-minute walk from the hotel, with no transport after the late shift.
• Two mention pay, both in the context of unpaid hours when a shift was cancelled on the day.
• Three of the four returners worked at the one site that publishes rotas two weeks ahead.

The findings do not prove that rota notice caused people not to return. They show a pattern worth testing:

• publish rotas two weeks ahead at all three sites;
• add a late transport option from the staff house;
• ask the next season's staff the same questions in September.

Timing matters more than method

The window to act runs from the end of one season to the start of recruitment for the next. A study run in the autumn can still change the offer, the contract and the housing. A study run after recruitment has opened mostly explains why it went badly.

Keep the findings about conditions, not individuals

Seasonal teams are small, and their members are easy to identify. Report the conditions people described, not who said what about whom. Do not use the answers to judge a supervisor without giving them a fair opportunity to explain. The retail stay interview guide and employee turnover causes cover related approaches for permanent staff.

Where Lontra fits

With Lontra, you write the question in one sentence, such as "Why don't our seasonal staff come back?". You review the topics it proposes, then invite up to ten people for free. Each person gets a private link. It works on a phone, needs no account and takes only a short conversation, which suits people who have since moved to another job. Lontra follows up on what they say. The findings show how many people described each point, where they disagree, and the quotes behind it. Participants are told before they start that you will read their answers.

It does not reach people who have not agreed to be contacted. It also does not replace the contract, payroll and scheduling records that show what was actually offered.

Decide before the next offer goes out

The useful output is a short list of conditions the business can change, each with an owner and a date before recruitment opens. Then ask again next season, with the same topics, to see whether the conditions changed for the people who live them.