HireSanta.com sees demand go up 30% as the US faces Saint Nick shortage with 2,250 jobs open

A company that rents out Santas has claimed that there's a 'national shortage' after demand has gone up by 30 percent, with 2,250 job openings to roleplay as Saint Nick across the country. 

HireSanta.com, which appeared on NBC's Shark Tank around 11 months ago, is struggling to meet a high-volume of requests this year due to elderly employees either retiring or facing health issues from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

'If you're hunting for a Santa on a weekend, it might be too late this year, but we're already having people who are wanting to book Santa for 2023,' CEO Mitch Allen told FOX 59 in Indianapolis. 

'For every Santa that reaches out to us, there are 20 open positions that we have,' he added. 

One of the reasons for Santa's newfound popularity is that many Americans are looking to rediscover tradition that may've been lost during isolation stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.   

Santa's newfound popularity in the US is tied to many Americans wanting to rekindle tradition that may've been lost during isolation stemming from the coronavirus pandemic

HireSanta.com's CEO Mitch Allen (left) says that 'for every Santa' requested, there are 20 open positions at his company

A shortage of Santas across America has been tied to elderly employees either retiring due to fears over catching COVID-19 or burnout from the demands of the job

'We are seeing a tremendous amount of demand for Santa Claus entertainment this holiday season,' Allen told DailyMail.com. 

Larry Shaw, who's worked as an elf for the last 44 years in Indiana's capital and is also known as 'the Circle City Santa', claims he's never been as busy as he is this year. 

'Weekends from Friday night all the way to Sunday night, I've got time to go home and go to bed and get up and start over again,' he told FOX 59. 

The Santa-for-hire industry veteran further claimed that he's had to nearly work every day over the last two or three months. Each weekend consists of several Christmas-related events and most weekdays have at least one event. 

'I've got a few spots here and there I can fit people in,' Shaw said, stressing that the only availability he has left is mostly on weekdays.

Larry Shaw, who roles plays as Santa Claus in the Indianapolis area, claims he has no time for respite on weekends, when most people request for Saint Nick 

Shaw has been one of Santa Claus' helpers for 44 years now and is also known as the 'Circle City Santa'

'There are still a lot of places where there are public appearances, a lot of your malls are still doing it,' he added, pointing out that some of his colleagues have hang up their black boots and red coats due to concerns over the intensity of the job and concerns stemming from COVID-19.

'They're getting older, and they don't want to take the risk,' the Indiana-native said.

Craig Stone, another Santa based out of Indianapolis, claims that he's 50-75 percent busier than last year.

In 2021, Santa and Mrs. Claus lookalikes worked 20 percent more than they did than before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2019, according to IBRBS, a worldwide membership organization of roughly 2,000 professional Saint Nick actors.

Despite a shortage of Santa going on, Allen said there's also been an increase in requests for diversity over the last couple of years

Last year, SantaHire.com had 10 percent fewer Santas available while requests for Saint Nick had more than doubled since 2019

Meanwhile, HireSanta.com CEO Mitch Allen, who sought $200,000 in exchange for a 10 percent stake in his company on Shark Tank, also said there's also been an increase in requests to rent Santas from all types of backgrounds.

'There has been a huge increase in demand for Black Santas, Hispanic Santas, even ASL, or American Sign Language Santas, and Mrs. Clauses,' Allen told FOX 59.

Based in Fort Worth, Texas, HireSanta.com also struggled with staffing last year. 

The company had 10 percent fewer Santas available while requests for Saint Nick had more than doubled then since pre-COVID, according to CNN.