At the core of each convenience store is a team of diverse and dynamic store associates. During a recent webinar, NACS Research Analyst Chris Wise shared challenges and opportunities facing today’s convenience retail workforce with metrics gleaned from the NACS Talent Insights Dashboard.

Wise noted that turnover in the convenience channel is a perennial issue, with store employee turnover typically exceeding 100%. Most part-time store associates tend to resign within a year, and it requires about 26 applications, 1.4 interviews and 10 days on average to fill a position. These numbers represent the continual churn that store managers face and a constant—and costly—cycle of hiring and training.

According to the data, hiring a store manager costs approximately $1,800, with an additional $5,000 required for training—bringing the total investment to nearly $7,000.

In contrast, hiring a part-time hourly employee costs about $1,000 less and the time to reach full productivity is much shorter. It takes just under 40 days for a part-time hourly employee to become fully productive, compared to 112 days for a store manager. This suggests that turnover in the store manager position can significantly impact team productivity and the time it takes for operations to reach full strength. Read tips to combat manager turnover here.

Amid these challenges, there are bright spots. Wise said that larger operators have universal benefits like health, dental, vision and 401K, while smaller operators are catching up and experimenting with unique perks like pet insurance and same-day pay.

Wise stressed the importance of putting these HR metrics into action, suggesting that investing in flexible scheduling, robust onboarding and creative benefits can help retailers retain and grow the career path of their store employees. See examples of how retailers are mitigating frontline turnover here.

You Can’t Grow What You Can’t Measure

Knowing that the labor market shifted throughout 2025, Wise amplified the importance of having a robust, industry-specific data resource that captures key HR metrics.

“The Talent Insights Dashboard survey for 2025 data is open and updated dashboard benchmarks will be released in March 2026,” said Wise. Retailers who participate in the survey receive free access to the Dashboard and access is granted on an enterprise basis, meaning anybody in a company has access to the Dashboard through their online NACS account.