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Signs of the Times: Help Wanted By Ritchie Sayner Advanced Retail Strategies The sign in the store window reads: Help Wanted - Please Apply
According to Craig Johnson, founder of the retail advisory group
or Now Hiring - Join our Team or some variation of those words,
Customer Growth Partners, “The growth in demand for retail services…
all with the same urgent plea…we need help and we need it now!
has been far stronger than the growth in the supply of labor needed.”
As of September, the labor force participation rate stood at 61.5%,
There has been a sales increase of nearly 14% in general
down from 63.3% pre-COVID, according to the U.S Bureau of
merchandise, apparel and food purchased for consumption at
Labor Statistics. That reduction amounts to about 4 million people
home, not including gas, cars, and restaurants, from January to
currently NOT in the labor pool. It isn’t difficult to understand why
September of 2021 compared to the same time in 2020. When you
retailers (and other businesses) are having such a difficult time
couple this with roughly 4 million fewer people in the labor pool,
finding people willing to work when you break it down. Clearly
logic would indicate that things are out of balance.
there are plenty of jobs available, but few interested takers. And it’s not just retail. A growing number of folks today simply don’t want to work - period.
Most people understand why retail sales are up sharply this year, even given the continuing supply-chain issues. What many retailers are scratching their collective heads over is why they can’t find, Continued on page 22
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