Remote Work, Quiet Quitting May Make Holiday Hiring Difficult For Retailers

Retailers are challenged with already higher employee turnover rates compared to many industries. Worker shortages and higher demands from existing workers will stress the retail industry as it braces for a challenging holiday hiring season. While job applications remain high, retail jobs in physical stores will be tough to fill since many job seekers are looking for remote work, higher salaries and more benefits. The rise of quiet quitting will impact the engagement levels of existing staff.

U.S. adults seeking new jobs

According to Career Builders’ 2022 Survey data, seven in ten employed adults in the U.S. are currently engaged in a job search, with 62% expressing interest in moving to an entirely new industry/field. Many of these employed job seekers are passively conducting searches by casually looking for jobs or accepting invitations to speak to recruiters about open positions.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) predicts that retail sales for 2022 will grow by 6 to 8% over 2021, with its data showing retail sales were up 7% year-over-year for the first six months of the year. Holiday selling is a crucial time for many retailers and they will be making plans to hire workers as early as September to meet the sales projections. But workers’ attitudes about their jobs have changed; their commitment to their employers has waned since the pandemic, making it tough for retailers to hire and retain workers in store locations.

Remote work is not an option for retail workers in stores

Adding to the retail worker dilemma is the fact that, coming off the pandemic, many employees want to work remotely, which is not conducive to a retail environment for physical stores where 85% of retail sales are transacted. Kristin Kelley, Chief marketing officer of CareerBuilder, said in an interview, “COVID and the pandemic brought an entirely new way of working that is not going away; People value the time saved by commuting and being able to work from home.” For many companies, remote work can allow hiring the best applicants from around the world, but this doesn’t translate to a successful physical store work environment.

Employment in the retail trade increased by 22,000 in July and is expected to increase this year’s fourth quarter (October through December) significantly. Most retailers put holiday hiring plans together and begin the process as early as September. Last year, the retail sector planned to hire between 500,000 to 665,000 employees for the holiday season. With retail sales projected to be 6-8% higher than last year, the number of holiday openings is expected to increase. Kelley said, “We anticipate a very active hiring landscape ahead of the holiday season as employers seek to fill roles across all industries. Retail workers will need to staff cash registers, warehouse workers will sort through and ship packages, transportation workers will deliver an influx of online orders and many other roles will come into play.”

Quiet quitting gains momentum

The latest form of disengagement among workers is a phenomenon known as quiet quitting. While this has nothing to do with actually quitting, it can lead to employees actually quitting if gone unchecked by employers. Some describe quiet quitting as putting in the least amount of work to achieve work objectives without going above and beyond. In contrast, others may describe it as simply setting strict boundaries with employers or supervisors to maintain a healthier life-work balance. For workers in retail stores, this may mean sticking to job specifications, including only working scheduled hours.

Retail workers in the physical stores working directly with customers may find that creating such boundaries can limit their ability to creatively problem solve customer issues, demonstrate empowerment when making decisions and, quite frankly, get promoted. The retail sector has recognized and rewarded front-line employees who go above and beyond by putting them in management positions.

With that said, there is nothing wrong with employees wanting to stay at their current jobs as long as expectations are clear from both employees and employers. For workers who are burnt out and use quiet quitting to cope with a stressful work environment, they may find that this will eventually lead to their quitting the job unless employers are willing to discover and address challenging work environments with initiatives that promote and foster better working conditions.

Kelley discussed that the definition of quiet quitting could vary slightly, but they have found that while it means people are doing less work, it could result from setting boundaries for more of a work-life balance. “Workers are taking a step back by finding periods throughout the day to disconnect – for many; it’s to improve their work efficiency and relieve work stress or pressure.” Kelley agrees that for employers, it provides an opportunity to enhance workplace culture, whether a yoga hour or coffee chats, to reset and boost employee morale.

For some major successful retailers, the employees that are highly motivated and deeply engaged fuel an already robust service culture by taking steps above their job descriptions to satisfy and serve customers. NordstromJWN
and Container Store have notoriously lower levels of employee turnover and a well-known service culture that drives strong customer loyalty. Best BuyBBY
was recently recognized for providing technical help and knowledgeable staff to better assist customers in product selection.

A holiday season with service gaps

As retailers specifically look at plans to build up holiday staff in stores, it will be a challenge to staff stores with holiday employees that are eager to learn and willing to help, going above and beyond. Stores that pride themselves on excellent customer service may be challenged to continue a service culture that builds loyalty, considering the current factors influencing worker attitudes towards their jobs.

A tight labor market and a shift in worker attitudes will likely make holiday hiring for retailers challenging, resulting in service gaps across the industry during the peak selling period.