A Shopping Disaster – The Retail Industry and Young Workers
Shopping is no doubt one of my favourite sports (Note: I consider it a sport because after shopping for a day, my legs ache as much as jogging 4 kilometres). And reading this (refer to original article here) wasn’t all that pleasant:
“According to the study, 58.5% of respondents believe customer service has declined in the last five years, while only 17.4% say it has improved.” – By Michelle Hammond from SmartCompany
From 2011 census data, we understand that retail trade is the second largest industry by employment with over a million (1,057,230) people, just behind Health Care and Social Assistance. That’s almost a ninth of people who are employed!
Among them, 577, 501 people are at the forefront of sales. That’s approximately half the number of people working in the industry! And this number is likely to increase with retail trade blossoming slowly but surely each year (refer to retail turnover statistics here).
However, the irony is that while people like me are willing to spend more money in the retail industry, we are getting less quality service. And much of this, according to the same survey, stems from “poor staff attitudes, problems with overseas call centres, and a lack of professionalism and product knowledge” by young workers in particular. This leads me to wonder: How young is our workforce?
After rummaging through the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) website, I managed to find some interesting data. It is estimated that over 700,000 of our workforce in August 2011 are barely 20 years old (They are between 15 and 19)! That’s approximately half (47%) of the population of persons between 15 and 19 (view the full “Labour Force” report here).
From 2006 census data, most young workers between ages 15 and 24 seem to congregate in the retail trade sector.
Not only so, compared to all industries, retail trade has a pretty young workforce, with the majority of workers coming from the 15 to 24 age group.
Thus, it is not without truth when the article claims that our young workers, though supposedly more educated these days, are the problem of poor customer service because they not getting enough training. But is this young retail workforce a current trend? Unlikely. It is well-known that most youths choose to work in retail only because it is one of the easiest industries to get into and earn some pocket money. Since young workers have dominated the industry for so long, could it be that our consumers’ attitudes have changed and we expect more than before? We’ll never know this from statistics so why don’t you tell us what you think today?
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Rebecca, as an aged worker in the retail industry, I was very interested in “A Shopping Disaster – The Retail Industry and Young Workers.”
I was employed 7 years ago by a large retail company, as a permanent part-timer. I was then 60 years of age and extremely lucky to get employment. Preference almost always goes to the 15-21 year olds, due to cheaper wages.
When I started with this company, my ambition was to progress up the employment ladder, but employing youth always stood in my way. I clearly remember a 15 year old who had left school, was quickly employed and very soon became a supervisor on weekends.
As you mention, most young workers are there for the pocket money, while pursuing higher studies. They are well educated and highly intelligent, but lack the motivation to work for the company in the same way that an employee, who is looking for promotion within the company for a career choice.
The basic criteria for employment is, age (under 21) and availability. No particular interest in the products is required.
Training is virtually zero, with a new employee being placed at the counter and learning from the person with whom they happen to be working that day. Discrepancies in procedure result from this ad hoc method of training.
It is interesting to observe customer attitudes. I think many customers have come to accept staff shortages and the lack of personal service available. However there are others who are appalled at the lack of visible staff in our large store.
Another interesting observation re-customers, is that if a young person gives excellent service, they are far more likely to receive positive comments from the customer.
I am a great believer in giving people personal responsibilities and a chance to feel a sense of achievement e.g. put them in charge of a certain area of the store. It is a wonderful motivator, but that type of attitude is totally non-existent from upper management. Everything is dictated to disempower the workers. No wonder there are problems with service and attitude.
Thank you for the great comment (and apologies for the late reply)! Personally, I think there are many other factors, as you mentioned, that affect the quality of customer service. Even the socio-economic and political climate of a country can change one’s attitude towards work. As a youth myself, I do agree that being given proper training and responsibilities are important to shaping our attitudes because it sets the “work-mood” and makes us feel like we have a place in the team and company. I don’t think age is very much the problem; but rather, how we are taught and learn to approach work.