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How can you ensure the ongoing retail worker shortage doesn’t impact your brand?

Apparently, nobody wants to work anymore (or, at least, that鈥檚 what Kim Kardashian .)

Hypothetically, there are plenty of jobs out there. US employers in July, bouncing back to pre-COVID numbers. Over 40,000 of these roles are in retail trade or along the retail supply chain.

But Kim K is kind of right: For each available role, only are open to fill it. And some brands are feeling this discrepancy more than others.

Amazon, for example, predicts they鈥檙e on track to 聽of warehouse people to hire by 2024.

So, why doesn鈥檛 anyone want to work in the retail industry anymore? There are 3 reasons in particular.

1. Unlivable compensation

Working in retail was 鈥� until it wasn鈥檛. When discount stores started popping up in the 60s, keeping prices competitive meant reducing labor costs wherever possible. The trend caught on.

Today, the average hourly pay in retail (adjusted for inflation) is than in the early 70s. And even with the growing popularity of , eligible candidates aren鈥檛 buying it.

Why? Because a 1-time signing bonus loses its appeal if compensation and other benefits (like paid time off) aren鈥檛 also competitive.

Just look at hourly pay. Working 40 hours a week, US workers need to make to afford rent in most states. The median wage in the retail sector, however, currently sits at .

But it鈥檚 not just getting paid enough to make ends meet that candidates care about; it鈥檚 earning a wage worth what the job entails.

2. Poor working conditions

It鈥檚 not exactly a secret: Working conditions often make retail jobs a nightmare for many workers. A聽聽study identifies the biggest contributor as 鈥渏ust-in-time鈥� scheduling methods.

With this method, scheduling software uses a fancy algorithm to efficiently (AKA, leanly) staff its store. Typically, employees only get these schedules a week before the scheduled period starts, then need to plan their personal lives around those irregular hours.

This makes balancing work and life near impossible and can lead to burnout. And it means an employee鈥檚 hours can be cut drastically and without warning from week to week (but more on job instability in a second).

Blaming only unempathetic scheduling methods seems to oversimplify the issue.

Just this week, Dollar General was hit with nearly聽for worker safety violations (including obstructed exit routes and unsafely stacked merchandise).

Meanwhile, Amazon air-freight workers in California walked out in , demanding better pay and working conditions.

Specifically, they want a $5 hourly raise and temperature control in the sweltering summer heat. (For reference, temperatures in the facility rose聽聽on 24 different days during July.)

And that event is totally unrelated to the 聽into Amazon鈥檚 New Jersey warehouse working conditions after 3 employees died in 3 weeks at 3 different facilities.

3. Job instability

Hypothetically, retail corporate jobs should offer more job security than on-floor staff, right? After all, ecommerce聽continues to grow聽despite the recent economic downturn.

But that鈥檚 not the case. With looming聽recession fears and shifting consumer behavior, the retail workforce is seeing a summer of layoffs.

聽laid off 10% of its workforce, saying its post-pandemic shopping bets 鈥渄idn鈥檛 pay off.鈥�

聽laid off 23 employees (8% of its global workforce) after reevaluating 鈥渞oles and processes.鈥澛犅燾ut 63 corporate roles (15% of its workforce) before reporting Q2 earnings. 础苍诲听聽cut 784 jobs in August after laying off 20% of its workforce in July.

(,听, and聽聽are just a few more participating this season.)

But these layoffs aren鈥檛 only happening in the DTC space.聽聽said earlier this month that it鈥檚 slashing 200 corporate roles. That鈥檚 only a few months after the megacorps said they were聽聽on purpose.

础苍诲听聽quietly laid off 160 corporate folks (a move they claim will save ~$40m a year).

Needless to say, joining a brand that鈥檚 making headlines for layoffs doesn鈥檛 exactly seem like a safe bet. And in an unstable economy, job security is pretty much everything.

How retailers can combat the labor shortage

Admittedly, we don’t have a perfect solution to the labor shortage (after all, we can’t make people聽want聽to work). But we do have a few tried and true tricks that will make people want to work聽for you:

Raise wages

Bare minimum, make sure you’re paying a livable wage for the area in which your employees work. AKA, can they comfortably afford rent working 40 hours a week?

From an operational standpoint, this can be difficult, expensive, and time-consuming. After all, raising wages typically means you’re cutting into your margins or simultaneously raising prices.

But recruiting, onboarding, and dealing with turnover are ultimately more expensive and time-consuming. With聽聽living paycheck to paycheck since the pandemic’s beginning, the size of those paychecks matters if you want to keep your employees around.

Expand benefits

These benefits don’t have to be anything crazy, but they should be something employees care about. So, a ping pong table in the break room won’t be as meaningful as, say, an extra week of PTO every year or set schedules that employees can plan their lives around.

, for example, offers employees a profit-sharing program and stock purchase plan to attract new hires. Then, the grocery chain uses a “succession planning” model to convert part-time employees to full-time. How? By offering things like tuition reimbursement and offering raises every 6 months.

Thanks to these added benefits, the average store manager stays for聽(not a typo). And their sales聽聽in 2021 alone.

Optimize your ops

When it comes to optimizing ops, the name of the game is freeing up聽working capital. And while some brands did this with layoffs (not a super effective hiring strategy amid a labor shortage), you can do this via聽inventory optimization听颈苍蝉迟别补诲.

For instance, brands generate 40% more revenue when they manage their inventory with聽网红黑料聽(which you could reinvest in retaining top talent). They also run leaner operations (AKA, hold less merchandise and accumulate less holding costs) without stocking out.

Be transparent

Let’s be real 鈥� change is scary. And in this economy, a lot could change with your brand. You might need to implement staffing changes, flexible schedules, cut a few perks, or say counter with lower raises. That’s okay.

Generally speaking, employees won’t up and leave if they understand聽飞丑测听you’re implementing these changes. Of course, within reason, they won’t.

When preparing to implement these changes, be sure to:

• Tell your team about changes first (even if they’re not directly impacted, you don’t want them learning about it via a headline or a coworker).
• Provide space for an open forum. Meaning, offer context on the changes to come (ideally in a live conversation), then answer any questions your team has.
• Hear what your team has to say. Some changes or employee asks (like safe working conditions) are non-negotiables. When these come up, actually listen to what your team members have to say and work together toward a solution.