I have a friend who recently took a job with a respected women’s clothing retailer after 13 years of retirement. My friend, Leslie, a former school teacher, wanted to be of use and knew that retail was a great opportunity for seniors. She was all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed her first week. She loved that the manager asked her to try on clothes she liked and then suggested outfits that would look good on her. Leslie even purchased a few of those suggestions, couture she never would have considered on her own. This was going great! The next week, she was asked to climb a five-foot ladder to dust the top shelves. My 77-year-old fit friend didn’t think twice, despite not feeling entirely comfortable atop a ladder with no colleague to support her. Over that week, she continually asked her manager for additional jobs because she felt she wasn’t doing enough. She wanted to help a colleague in the backroom; she was told no. She wanted to train on the register; she was told no. When there were no customers, Leslie felt “useless” and was told she could straighten out the already immaculate shelves. She messed them up to organize them. On her third week, she wasn’t even on the schedule. At that time, she texted her boss that the job wasn’t working out because she was totally underutilized. Her boss never got back to her.
................................ This retail labor shortage shows no signs of slowing. Many companies are struggling to find and retain the amount of staff needed to fill their job vacancies. There are currently 5.5 million more job openings than there are workers to fill them.
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A Wall Street Journal survey reveals what we already know: people 65 and older are not only not afraid of hard work; 75% of them crave it. As a point of comparison, just 61% of 18- to 29-year-olds say hard work is very important to them. American retailers have been actively recruiting baby boomers for years in the struggle to fill jobs at a time of historically low unemployment. Older adults, economists say, became a coveted demographic for many customer-facing jobs at supermarkets, department stores, and pharmacies. For years, even before the pandemic, employers had trouble attracting and retaining workers, so they were tapping groups they wouldn’t have traditionally turned to, mostly older workers. The number of retirement-age Americans working in retail has increased steadily since the 2008 recession as they look to make ends meet. Nearly one-quarter of retail workers are 55 or older, and 7% are over 65, according to Labor Department data. With 3.5 million workers over the age of 55, including one million over 65, the retail industry is the nation’s top employer for seniors.
Now, of course, while Leslie’s experience is, anecdotally, a single example of a great opportunity turned sour, it’s also not unreasonable to surmise this singular case may not be so singular. The last issue’s column dealt with ageism in the workforce. I can’t help but consider that Leslie’s experience is tied to that. While there are many industries with labor shortages, the worker shortage has hit retail the hardest. Why, then, would a reputable brand not make better use of a ready, willing, and able worker? That’s a rhetorical question with, sadly, too many real answers.