Changes in retail recruiting

Learn how to tackle 3 key challenges in retail recruiting!

Retail recruiting is is a term used for finding and hiring the right job candidates in retail industry, from kiosks and small groceries to supermarket chains and large department stores.
The technology is rapidly changing the retail industry. Consequently, the retail job positions are changing too.

3 key challenges in retail recruiting (and how to tackle them)

Recruiting the right people for a retail industry can be a challenging task. However, if you leverage the latest innovations in retail recruiting, you can recruit retail professionals much easier and faster.

Here are the 3 key challenges in retail recruiting, plus tips on how to tackle them:

Retail recruiting challenge #1: High volume hiring

According to the Bureau of Labor, over 15 million people work in the retail sector. Retail sales worker occupations make-up the second largest job growth projections in the country, according to The Guardian.

This means that retail industry needs to fill a massive number of job openings on regular basis - not to mention the seasonal “hiring frenzy”.

How to tackle this challenge?

Always be recruiting! Industries with high volume recruiting and high turnover rate benefit greatly from building talent pools. Talent pools can be especially valuable for seasonal hiring.  

Use modern, all-in-one recruitment software to automate many time-consuming manual tasks such as resume screening and parsing to streamline your whole recruiting process, saving your time and money.

Retail recruiting challenge #2: Attracting the right candidates

The technology is changing the retail industry. Consequently, retail job positions are changing too. Retail employees now have to have different skills in order to excel at their job.

As a result, retail employers are facing difficulties finding qualified candidates.  

According to a recent Indeed survey:

• 70% of retail employers reported having difficulty finding in-store candidates with the appropriate technical experience
• 82% of retail employers expressed difficulty finding candidates with appropriate cross-functional experience.

How to tackle this challenge?

Use great retail job descriptions that attract the right type of candidates. Make sure you highlight the technical skills and cross-functional experience you are looking for in your ideal employees!

Don’t be afraid to hire candidates who don’t have a retail background. They might become your best employees and bring in fresh perspectives and innovative ideas!

Retail recruiting challenge #3: High turnover rate

According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, retail is among the top 5 industries with the highest turnover rate.

Here are some more interesting retail turnover stats from a survey by Hay Group:

• Retailers averaged 67% turnover for part-time employees
• 26% of retailers said their employee turnover costs have increased.

High turnover is associated with high costs. A CAP study found it costs on average $3,328 to find, hire and train a replacement for a $10/hour retail employee.

How to tackle this challenge?

According to a survey by Hay Group, 74% of retailers said their workers leave for better opportunities, rather than higher salaries. This means that establishing career paths for employees or providing additional training could significantly improve your chances to keep your the best candidates!