Paula Rosenblum

NRF: Retail Means Jobs (Good Jobs?)

January 19, 2012

FROM RETAILWIRE:
A major theme of this week's National Retail Federation 101st Annual Convention was that "Retail Means Jobs." And NRF supported that contention by citing lots of statistics related to retail in the U.S. Are the realities of retail compensation affecting the industry's ability to attract the type of talent that would excel on the front lines?      [more...]

This is a very complicated issue, that can't be fully addressed in a series of sound bites. Because it's so complicated, I don't think I would have embarked on the "Retail Means Jobs" initiative if I were NRF (although I certainly wasn't asked). It opens itself up for exactly this kind of criticism, and counter-groups have already shown up, which is probably what drove the articles.

Most retailers' store profit models have been historically built on a large transient staff of part-time store employees, largely ineligible for fringe benefits. The real question is, what's the right model for 2012 and beyond? Can a retailer improve pay and benefits and still remain profitable? And what happens if as an industry, we don't improve pay and benefits? You would think US retailers would be more supportive a single payer system, and remove the issue of health care entirely, but they aren't/didn't.

Like I said, it's very complicated.