ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Here are some staggering realities about today’s job market:
- Unemployment is low, indicating a healthy economy.
- The rate of job openings is far surpassing the rate of hires, and there are not enough people to fill jobs.
- Workers are confident, leading to more quits than layoffs post-pandemic, indicating high inflation and wage increases.
“High inflation equals higher wages. For the convenience retail industry, full-time associate wages increased 9.1% from 2021 to 2022, to a total of $14.33. Part-time wages were up over 12% to a total of $14.02. This supports what our members have shared with us, and what you’ll find in the NACS State of the Industry Compensation Report® of 2022 Data,” said Jayme Gough, NACS research manager, who presented the newly released data at the NACS HR Forum in Savannah, Georgia.
By comparison, the convenience channel is paying higher wages than other channels like grocery, drug and dollar stores, and QSRs. Despite having some of the highest wages in the market, turnover remains incredibly high.
“Our full- and part-time combined turnover for 2022 was 141%. This breaks out into 130.0% for full-timers and 152.3% for part-timers. Compared to last year, total turnover was 150%; 118.8% for full-timers and 181.6% for part-timers,” said Gough, adding, “This begs the question many retailers are asking: Is the amount of money employees receive even important?”
The answer is yes—but it’s not the only thing that is important.
“If you don’t pay people enough for their effort, they won’t be motivated. However, if you incentivize them with monetary rewards, that may worsen their performance,” she said, suggesting that retailers should consider paying employees enough to take the issue of money off the table, which allows them to “focus on the work rather than the pay they are receiving for that work.”
Gough noted that this year will be the year of employee engagement and retention, because employees are demanding more of their employers. To keep employees engaged, the industry’s human resources community collaborated on ways to create better work experiences.
“It’s not all about pay—the holistic employee experience starts before they are even hired,” said Gough. Those experiences, like identifying unique and attractive benefits that set retailers apart from their competitors, were identified by convenience retailers in the NACS SOI Compensation Report and include bereavement leave, flexible scheduling, shift differentials, earned wage access and same-day pay.
Industry Workforce Data at Your Fingertips
Available now for purchase, the NACS State of the Industry Compensation Report® of 2022 Data is the only digital benchmarking report of its kind specific to human resources in convenience retail.
The report covers compensation and bonuses, employee benefits, recruitment and turnover to help retailers measure themselves against their industry peers. This year’s report features data from 90 retail companies, representing more than 21,000 stores of all sizes and over 302,000 employees, and is considered an essential guide for HR professionals.
Order your copy of the NACS State of the Industry Compensation Report® of 2022 Data today.