Across the country, Americas retailers and shipping companies are looking happily forward to a robust holiday shopping season.

Yet theres just one concern: Who will stock the shelves, pack the orders and ring up customers?

The U.S. job market is the tightest its been in five decades, consumer confidence is near an 18-year high and online shopping is surging.

Companies that depend on holiday season sales need more workers at a time when the ranks of the unemployed have dwindled to their lowest level since the recession.

Envisioning an even tougher struggle than theyve had in recent years, many companies are taking steps theyve not tried before.

More of them are offering higher pay. Theyre holding national hiring days. Theyre dangling bonuses. Theyre providing more full-time, rather than part-time, work. Some warehousing companies that fear they still wont be able to fill enough jobs, are turning to automation.

"I cant remember the last time it was this tight," said Tony Lee, a vice president at the Society for Human Resource Management. "You are going to see a real battle for seasonal employees."

At 3.7 percent, the U.S. unemployment rate is at a 49-year low, and the government says a record 6.9 million job openings are being advertised — more than the number of unemployed Americans.

With more job seekers able to choose among employers, many companies have rushed to begin their seasonal hiring earlier than before. Kohls, the nationwide discount chain, with 1,100 stores, tried to get a jump on its rivals by advertising seasonal jobs back in late June.

"We are hiring seasonal associates earlier than ever," said Ryan Festerling, Kohls head of human resources.

UpS held its first-ever nationwide job fair last week. The Atlanta company had been caught off-guard last year when early holiday shipments swamped its network. On its job-fair day — which it  dubbed "Brown Friday"— UpS hopes to hire up to 40,000 of the more than 100,000 seasonal workers it will need.

Sakeria Crawford, who will start a start a seasonal package-handling job with UpS next month, will earn about $13 an hour — the most shes ever made.

Crawford, 24, who lives in Atlanta, hopes to stay on in a full-time permanent job after the holidays. About one-third of UpS full-time employees began as part-timers. Crawford is using the time before the job starts to line up daycare for her son, nearly 4, for whom she hopes the job will also mean a brighter Christmas.