Survey: Staffing, wage concerns top priority for retailers heading into summer

Retailers are still having a hard time filling store-based positions.

More than half of retailers (52.80%) indicated that staffing and wage issues were their top concerns going into summer, according to a an annual survey by training and communications technology company Multimedia Plus.The study surveyed executives in the retail and hospitality industries.

In distant second and third place were globalevents (9.60%) and banking sector  concerns (8.80%). Also coming in at less than 10% were loss prevention and supply chain concerns.

In terms of the current environment for hiring store-based roles, 30.63% of respondents said that positions are about the same to fill as compared to this time last year. But 24.32% of respondents reported that positions are harder to fill than last year, while 11.71% said that they are much harder to fill.

“Despite the news headlines of layoffs, over 36% of our respondents in the retail and hospitality industries are finding positions harder to fill than last year, said David Harouche, CEO & CTO, Multimedia Plus. “Having an adequate number of well-trained staff in place and retaining them is a key priority.”

When asked about the impact of the current economic environment on their technology spend for 2023, more than half of the respondents (54.81%) reported that their technology spend will remain the same. Only 13.46% of respondents said they plan to increase their technology spend by more than 10%. Other findings from Multimedia Plus’ “Operational Impact Research Survey” are below.

•Respondents were also asked about their highest priority training initiative, with 34.65% citing leadership development as their top priority, followed by operations training (29.70%). Diversity and inclusion, on-boarding and systems training all came in under 10%.

•Mobile learning (14.43%) and task management (11.34%) platforms led the list of the front line platforms retailers are planning to implment in the next 12 months.

“While the macroeconomic environment continues to present new challenges, organizations realize that their frontline staff plays a vital role in their growth and customer acquisition,” said Harouche.”The level of talent and training directly impacts their ability to conduct business efficiently.”

“Despite external challenges and global events, our latest data confirms that executives
remain committed to prioritizing the human element in customer service, which is crucial for driving business growth,” added Harouche.