Raw
data on retail employment produces some interesting facts that may help explain
why jobs are being lost and at the same time ease unemployment concerns.
Much
has been made of the 80,000 job losses in US retail since February but that is
on the back of an industry that employs more than 15m people. Store closures
and reduced retail demand have brought shop floor staff reductions although back
room retail employment is on the rise. The growth in new retail services,
particularly those related to online has created employment opportunities in a
range of new retail services.
Number
crunchers have a significant impact in all industries and when you examine the
statistics in retail sector employment you can see why staff numbers are under
review. According to the Institute of International Finance, it takes less than
one employee for every $1m annual sales to operate an online store, around 3
employees for a big box retailer, and around 8 for a traditional department
store. Number crunchers gave been waving red flags about those proportions and
during a time of declining retail sales, retailers have been reacting. Of
course number crunching can ignore the importance of personal attention to
customers. As the number of pure-play online retailers opening bricks’n’mortar
stores continues to rise, we must assume that the dust hasn’t settled on this
equation.
Finally,
in an overall sense, there is evidence that employment gains from the growth of
e-commerce outweigh the losses in traditional retail stores although like many
industry transitions there are consequences for experienced floor walkers
having to transition to the new skill set required for e-commerce. And of
course market traders need to go through a similar shift in skills if they wish
to continue in our industry and meet new consumer demands for retail services.
The only thing that stays constant is change itself.