Retail workers are facing amplified challenges in the post-pandemic economy, including rude customers, long hours, and low pay. These issues have resulted in a decline in workers' sense of value and respect, leading many to quit. The podcast also discusses the broader challenges faced by brick and mortar stores in competing with online sales.
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Quick takeaways
Retail workers are quitting in large numbers due to low pay, long hours, rude customers, and a general decline in their sense of value and respect.
Retail employees are facing escalating retail crime and shrinkage issues, which puts their safety at risk and adds to their daily stress and difficulties.
Deep dives
Challenges Faced by Retail Employees
Working in retail has always been challenging due to long hours, low pay, and inconsistent schedules. However, these challenges have worsened in recent times. Retail employees are facing chronic short staffing, which requires them to do the work of multiple people for the same wages. Moreover, customers have become more entitled and easily angered, creating a hostile work environment. The pandemic has also caused a surge in the quit rate of retail employees, with more workers quitting for better opportunities. This has resulted in high turnover rates and fewer people available to work in stores.
Impact of Retail Crime and Shrinkage
Retail employees are not only dealing with difficult customers, but they are also facing escalating retail crime and shrinkage issues. Organized crime rings and regular shoplifting have increased, putting the safety of employees at risk and depleting store stocks. Retailers are implementing measures to combat theft, such as locking up high-value items and conducting de-escalation training for employees. However, dealing with these incidents significantly adds to the stress and difficulties that retail workers face on a daily basis.
Wage Concerns and High Turnover Rates
Low wages continue to be a major concern for retail employees. Although some retailers have raised wages, they still remain relatively low, and inflation further reduces their buying power. Most retail workers are part-time employees, making it challenging to secure stable and predictable schedules. Additionally, the end of student loan forbearance is expected to impact retail sales negatively. With the tight labor market, turnover rates in the industry have remained exceptionally high. This causes staffing shortages, resulting in longer wait times for customers and increased tensions in stores.
Retail work has always been hard – long hours and weekend shifts on your feet, a lower pay scale and dealing with disgruntled customers. But in our post-pandemic economy, those issues have only been amplified with shoppers behaving badly and wages not keeping up with inflation, while employees take on ever-expanding roles. As a result, many workers are deciding the job just isn’t worth it.
Bloomberg’s Devin Leonard and Rebecca Greenfield explain the decline of retail workers’ sense of value and respect that is leading them to quit in droves. And retail reporter Olivia Rockeman talks about the broader challenges facing brick and mortar stores as they try to compete with growing online sales.