Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) said recently that it would hire between 20,000 and 25,000 seasonal workers for this year's holiday shopping rush. Sounds like quite a few temporary workers, doesn't it? Would you believe that it's about half of what the retailer hired last season?

Seasonal jobs include those who staff stockrooms, restaurants, gift-wrap centers and sales floors -- but this year's number may be quite a bit lower than last year's seasonal labor total. The usual suspects have already dampened the prospects for sales growth this holiday season: rising energy prices, the continued housing slump, declining credit availability and consumer confidence and (insert your choice of problems here).

As a result, the National Retail Federation has forecast the smallest holiday-sales gain since 2002: 4%, compared with a 10-year average of 4.8%. With so many factors in place to cause concern among holiday shoppers, a 4% figure really is pretty tame. In addition to low growth forecasts, retailers are getting a grasp on efficiency, and they're targeting labor as the largest area that needs refinement.

Store layouts, scheduling systems and other operational changes are needed at many retailers I see. There is so much labor inefficiency, it's staggering. But, labor markets in the retail sector are changing, according to Michael Niemira, chief economist and director of research at the International Council of Shopping Centers. He said that "The industry is cutting employment." He added that retail has cut employment in four of the last five months -- and we're just into November.