People are quitting retail jobs, but are they getting better ones?
At first glance, it looks like a small revolution is happening in retail.
Nearly 650,000 workers in the sector quit their jobs in April, the biggest number in over 20 years, as Abha Bhattarai reported at the Washington Post. Driven by a combination of low wages, Covid-19 risks, and harassment from customers, many are leaving their retail jobs behind in search of something different. “My life isn’t worth a dead-end job,” Aislinn Potts, a former aquatic specialist at a pet store, told the Post.
It’s a hopeful story, and one that we’ve heard about in a variety of industries this spring and summer, from leisure and hospitality to higher-paid professional jobs. Workers have the power now, the thinking goes, and if they’re not happy with their jobs they’ll just find better ones.
Unfortunately, some say, that’s not the full picture. Yes, high numbers of workers are quitting across