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Part-Time Jobs in Reading and Berks County: Who Hires When

Who hires for part-time, seasonal and weekend work in Berks County, the month each season's employers post, and what the work typically pays in the Reading area.

Berks Connect Blog|Published October 14, 2026
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Part-time jobs in Reading and the rest of Berks County follow a calendar. Holiday stores and shippers start hiring in September, snow crews and tax offices carry you through winter, the ballpark holds a job fair before its season opens, and school buses and cafeterias hire in late spring and summer for the school year. Typical pay for these kinds of jobs in the Reading area runs about $13 to $23 an hour, depending on the work, and starting pay can be lower.

In 2026, holiday postings went up in September and early October, so if you're reading this in the fall, the first of those windows is already open. You can browse jobs in Reading and Berks County on our BerksConnect board while you decide which season fits your life.

Who hires for the holidays in Berks County, and when?

In 2026 Boscov's posted full-time and part-time seasonal sales and stock associate jobs on September 21, and more on October 5, for its stores at the Berkshire Mall in Wyomissing, the Reading Mall and Fairgrounds Square Mall. Those jobs ask for availability for varied days and hours, including extended evening hours and weekends. Boscov's also posted part-time jobs at its phone center in Laureldale, where operators answer calls for all of its stores, with day shifts and weekend-evening shifts.

Package delivery gears up at the same time. UPS posted a seasonal cover driver job at its site at 4250 Reading Crest Avenue on September 9, 2026. A cover driver steps in to help with deliveries and may also be trained to help in the warehouse. You don't need a commercial driver's license, the license for buses and big trucks, but you'll be lifting packages up to 70 pounds, and the schedule can include Monday through Saturday, holidays and the peak delivery stretches.

So if it's October, the postings are already up, and this is the month to apply.

What part-time and seasonal jobs pay in the Reading area.

The work you pick matters more to your pay than the season does. The table below gives the median hourly wage for fifteen jobs that part-time and seasonal workers do, in the Reading metro area. The median is the middle of the range: half the people in that job earn more, half earn less. That makes it typical pay, not a starting rate and not a ceiling.

Job Median hourly pay
School bus drivers $22.75
Short-term substitute teachers $22.26
Laborers who move freight and stock by hand $22.14
Light truck drivers $20.23
Stockers and order fillers $18.27
Recreation workers $16.11
Retail salespersons $15.87
Food preparation workers $15.18
Waiters and waitresses $14.79
Home health and personal care aides $14.34
Childcare workers $14.20
Cashiers $14.07
Fast food and counter workers $13.51
Ushers and ticket takers $13.11
Lifeguards $13.00

Median hourly wages in the Reading, PA metro area, May 2025, from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (published May 2026). Half of the people in each job earned more and half earned less.

What should you make of it? Driving a school bus takes a special license and substitute teaching takes a college degree, and those two sit at the top of the table, with laborers who move freight by hand close behind. Counter work, lifeguarding and ushering sit near the bottom. Whatever the job, Pennsylvania's minimum wage is $7.25 an hour as of 2026, and part-timers get the same minimum as everyone else. The state's minimum wage law makes no distinction between full-time, part-time and temporary employees.

Winter work in Berks County: snow removal and tax season.

Snow removal crews hire for on-call work: overnight, early mornings, weekends and holidays, whenever it snows. One Reading landscaper posted shoveler, plow driver and equipment operator jobs in August 2026 and says the work suits people who already have a full-time job and want extra winter income. On-call means there's no set schedule. The work comes when the snow does, and a lot of it lands outside regular working hours.

In winter, tax season takes over. H&R Block hires seasonal associates for its tax offices, and if you've never prepared a return, it offers an Income Tax Course for people new to tax prep. If you'd rather give your time than get paid for it, the IRS's free tax help program trains volunteers, who aren't paid, and its tax sites are generally open nights and weekends.

Spring and summer jobs at the ballpark, orchards and vineyards.

The Reading Fightin Phils hire part-time workers for weeknights and weekends from April through early September, and you have to be at least 16. The team hires well before the first pitch. In 2026 it held a job fair on February 28, before the season, and a back-to-school job fair on August 24 to fill jobs for the rest of the 2026 season. The people hired at that fair get the first chance at jobs in 2027. If you want a summer at the ballpark, watch for the team's preseason job fair, which in 2026 came at the end of February.

Out in the county, the farms hire too. Weaver's Orchard in Morgantown hires part-time seasonal tour guides for its spring and fall orchard tours. Setter Ridge Vineyards near Kutztown hires a paid harvest team, and that job starts in mid to late June and runs through the end of November. It also hires weekend help for its tasting room, for people 21 and older, paid hourly plus tips.

Part-time jobs that follow the school year.

If you want hours that match a school calendar, school transportation is the place to look. The Berks County Intermediate Unit posts part-time jobs for school bus drivers, van drivers and bus and van assistants. They work a split shift, mornings and afternoons, that averages 20 to 25 hours a week, and bus drivers and bus and van assistants need to be 21 or older. The bus drivers need a Pennsylvania commercial driver's license with three add-ons, called endorsements: one for carrying passengers, one for school buses and one for air brakes. The Berks County Intermediate Unit posted its 2026-27 jobs on June 29, 2026.

School districts hire for their cafeterias too, both part-time and substitute. Exeter Township and Brandywine Heights posted 2026-27 cafeteria jobs between May and September 2026, and Reading School District posted a part-time food service job of four and a half hours a school day on a split shift.

Substitute teaching is the other school-year option. In Pennsylvania a day-to-day (short-term) substitute needs a bachelor's degree and background checks. If you don't hold a teaching certificate, a district can request an emergency permit for you, and it's good for one school year. Each district sets its own pay, and you start by contacting the district where you want to substitute.

Where to find evening, weekend and year-round part-time work in Berks County.

Some part-time work doesn't follow a season at all. Santander Arena in downtown Reading hires part-time ushers, ticket takers, cooks and bartenders for its events. The usher and ticket taker jobs run on nights, weekends and holidays, and the bartender and concession cook jobs are paid hourly plus tips.

For help with the search itself, PA CareerLink Berks County, at 1920 Kutztown Road, Suite F, in Reading, (610) 988-1300, holds large job fairs with many employers each spring and fall and holds hiring events for single employers in its office almost every week. If you'd rather work through an agency, Berks County publishes a list of temporary job placement agencies with Berks addresses. And if you're after steady hours with a big organization, we keep a rundown of the largest employers in Berks County.

In October 2026 the part-time jobs on our board included hospital shifts at Tower Health, Berks County government jobs, event staff at Santander Arena and banquet staff at Stokesay Castle, along with school, orchard, winery and snow-removal jobs. A lot of postings don't say whether they're part-time or full-time, so the quickest way to see them together is to search part-time jobs on our board, which pulls up postings that mention part-time work.

Pick the season that fits your life, find out when its employers post, and apply when they do, which is usually well before the work starts. If your season is the holidays, that's now.

Questions people ask about part-time work in Berks County.

Do part-time workers in Pennsylvania get overtime and benefits?

Most get overtime. Most employees in Pennsylvania, part-time included, earn time and a half for hours over 40 in a week. Benefits depend on the employer's own guidelines, so ask before you take the job.

Can a tipped job pay less than minimum wage in Pennsylvania?

Yes, the hourly wage can be lower. In a tipped job the employer can pay as little as $2.83 an hour, but with tips you still have to make at least $7.25 an hour.

Can a high school student get a part-time job in Berks County?

Yes. The Reading Fightin Phils hire workers as young as 16 for weeknights and weekends during the season. A minor needs a work permit, and it comes from the school district where the student lives.

Is there part-time work that fits around a full-time job?

Yes, a few kinds. Boscov's phone center in Laureldale posted holiday shifts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. Usher and ticket taker jobs at the arena run on nights, weekends and holidays. And on-call snow crews work overnight, early mornings and weekends; one Reading crew says that work suits people with a full-time job who want extra winter income.

Sources
    Part-Time Jobs in Reading and Berks County: Who Hires When - BerksConnect