Retail
The overarching retail trade workforce issues are recruitment, education, training, and retention. The following workforce issues have been gathered directly from senior executives within the retail trade industry:
- The retail trade industry has a large demand for workers. In an increasingly diverse society, multilingual employees are desirable. Retailers are customer service-driven and need workers to speak the languages of their customer base. Limited English Proficiency (LEP) is a problem as workers may speak the language of customers, but lack basic English language and literacy skills to perform all job functions.
- The retail trade industry is facing a new reality. A dynamic field with strong career ladders, a wide range of employee benefits, and on-the-job training, the retail trade industry is increasingly driven by high-end technology that requires advanced skills. Employers recruit job candidates from community colleges and universities and train incumbent workers to upgrade their skills for career advancement.
- Retail trade employers struggle to attract and retain the best and brightest employees because of the misperception that jobs are low wage and lack growth potential. In reality, today's retail trade careers are more than just cashier and sales associate positions; they encompass information technology, marketing, communications, loss prevention, finance, and merchandise sourcing.
