Unemployment in the United States is at a record low. And, although that may sound wonderful to many, it is a thorn in the side of American businesses, which are having trouble finding employees. There were 757,000 retail job openings this July, which is about 100,000 more than the same time last year. Skilled workers are extremely hard to come by these days, and it is especially making retailers sweat.
Retailers push back
Retailers are beginning their hunt for holiday workers earlier than ever this year and hoping to sweeten the proverbial pot by including things like job perks and higher salaries. They are also hosting recruiting marathons with the goal of hiring thousands of workers in a single day.
Places such as Kohl’s Corp and JCPenney started hiring all the way back in June for their seasonal workers and Penney’s even has offered one week of paid time off a year. Target has raised its hourly wage to $12 an hour, which is one dollar more than this time last year. They plan to raise their hourly wages to $15 an hour by the year 2020. In recent months, many companies have been raising starting hourly pay.
A change of pace
This lack of available workers is the opposite of what big companies have been doing in recent years: trimming staff and closing down stores to cut costs as sales and profits came under pressure from the shift to online shopping. But now, as the economy improves, these same companies are turning around and concluding they may have cut too far. Today, many are seeking to add employees to make the customer experience more pleasant and to differentiate themselves from online-only retailers
Although the tightening of the labor market and the labor shortage doesn’t pose as stringent a problem as it does in the manufacturing industry, those retailers seeking seasonal workers will face a tight squeeze to secure them. For instance, Stephen Frank, a Manpower managing director, said there is also a shortage in route drivers that is so severe in some areas that retailers are asking all employees, from entry-level to executives, to pitch in by delivering inventory to stores.
Unappealing work
Some economists point out that the labor shortage is more than simply an economic issue. The unappealing nature of retail work also plays a part in the struggle that retailers are facing right now. “A temporary, part-time job with an uncertain schedule, low pay and no benefits is not going to ramp up their hiring needs,” Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union told The Wall Street Journal. “These are not jobs that enable people to build their lives and support their families.”
Many retail workers are looking to migrate to other fields as the economy improves. People such as Gizel Aponte, who works at H&M in Manhattan, while she earns a degree in public health. She is looking for a different job because she isn’t getting enough hours, and her schedule is erratic.
“One week, I can work 23 hours, but the next week it could be five,” Aponte, who earns $14.23 an hour, told The Washington Post. “A lot of people in my store have left because the compensation isn’t good enough.”
Takeaway
With the shortage of retail workers in the United States, retailers will have to scramble to find help for the holiday season. But the low unemployment rate in the United States may not be the only thing that is riding against these retailers. Low pay, erratic hours and an unpredictable weekly schedule all contribute to people steering clear of the industry — and may even have some workers in the industry running for the exit.
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