Tag: WORKER ISSUES

February 15, 2023

Technological automation continues to stoke enthusiasm among advocates and fears among detractors, with the former seeing unprecedented new ways to streamline operations and the latter concerned about the potentially devastating impact on the job market. Retail has already witnessed some […]

February 14, 2023

California recently passed a law requiring employers with at least 15 workers to include pay ranges in job postings following calls for increased visibility to reduce gender and racial wage gaps. Employees can ask for the pay range for their […]

January 30, 2023

Sheetz is reviewing its “smile policy” that forbids associates from having “missing, broken, or badly discolored teeth (unrelated to a disability)” following an exposé by Business Insider. Sheetz’s spokesperson Nick Ruffner told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “Throughout our history to date […]

January 13, 2023

Nepotism has been in the limelight lately as Hollywood stars have had to defend themselves or their children over gaining an unfair advantage from family connections. The phrase #nepobaby (nepotism baby), steadily trending on social media, calls out and often […]

January 12, 2023

A recent study from U.S. News & World Report ranked 190 jobs in order to identify the best jobs in the U.S. today. Front-line retail employment did not land high up on the list. The role of retail salesperson is […]

January 9, 2023

Will “quiet hiring” become the next big trend affecting labor just as the “great resignation” and “quiet quitting” did before it? The practice, defined as when an organization acquires new skills without actually hiring new full-time employees, may involve taking […]

January 4, 2023

According to a recent McKinsey survey of U.S. retail workers, a lack of supportive colleagues was the leading cause of attrition for those 45 and older while ranking as the eighth most important factor for those under 35. Issues around […]

August 11, 2022

It turns out that 2021 was a good year, financially, to be a truck driver in the U.S. Driver wages rose significantly as large trucking companies, retailers and others vied for talent in a field where there are more jobs […]

July 15, 2022

On July 19, Canada will celebrate its third annual Grocery Heroes Day, an industry-backed holiday meant to honor frontline grocery workers. Grocery Heroes Day was launched by trade publication Grocery Business in 2020 and it has received backing from major […]

June 29, 2022

A RetailWire headline last October asked the question: “Who protects store associates when shoppers lash out?” The answer to that question may come in new labor contracts being negotiated by unions representing frontline retail workers and their employers. A New […]

April 26, 2022

A social media firestorm erupted after a manager of Dollar Tree store in Indiana last week posted a sign disparaging Gen-Z’s work ethic and proclaiming a “Baby Boomers ONLY” hiring plea. The handwritten sign on the store’s door read: “I […]

April 7, 2022

Last week’s jobs report contained both good news and bad for retailers. Yes, it was a sign of a stronger-than-expected economy. But closer to home, retailers understand the increased challenges the positive numbers mean for attracting and retaining good help […]

March 18, 2022

If Starbucks makes good on its most recent environmentally-minded endeavor, by 2025 you may not see nearly as many of the chain’s paper cups in the hands of coffee drinkers. Michael Kobori, chief sustainability officer at Starbucks, called eliminating the […]

March 4, 2022

Dollar General has emerged as one of the fastest growing retailers in the U.S. But as it has expanded its footprint, it has at times run afoul of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA recently fined two […]

February 11, 2022

The trucking industry has a numbers problem when it comes to drivers. The reality is that there is no quick fix in sight, and the evidence is clear in stores all across the nation. “In-demand products are sitting idly in […]

February 3, 2022

A new university study finds that, while high-empathy leaders tend to be better at giving negative feedback in a helpful manner, they become more distressed, inattentive and less effective at their jobs afterwards. In a penned article in Harvard Business […]

December 2, 2021

Any U.S. consumers who pay attention to their grocery receipts have undoubtedly noticed the increase in prices over the past year. One of the groups being hit hardest by the spike in grocery prices, though, consists of people who spend […]

November 4, 2021

The general assumption is that the economy’s three-pronged challenge — supply chain disruptions, labor shortages and inflation — will wind up hurting smaller retailers and vendors significantly more than larger ones. Smaller businesses often can be nimbler than their larger […]

September 22, 2021

Disturbing stories about customers confronting retail employees, sometimes violently, have been unfortunately growing in frequency in the U.S. for a number of years, especially since the beginning of the pandemic. One reporter recently attributed this escalation to an old retail […]

August 6, 2021

The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, said last week during a media briefing that the large numbers of people walking around unvaccinated against COVID-19 not only make it more likely that […]