Personnel

Starbucks Union Creates $1M Fund to Cover Lost Pay for Striking Baristas
June 2, 2022 at 4:56 pm

The union backing organizing efforts at Starbucks is creating a $1 million fund to cover lost pay for baristas who go on strike, giving workers more firepower in their fight to unionize. The financial backing comes amid a nationwide unionization push that has already included workers at some Starbucks locations staging walkouts and strikes. Once it’s…

Don’t Let the Labor Shortage Short Circuit Your Customer Loyalty
June 1, 2022 at 10:11 am

It’s no secret when it comes to the value of loyalty. Existing customers spend 31 percent more, on average, than new ones. They’re also 50 percent more likely to try new products. As a result, more and more retailers, including Albertsons, Rite Aid, and The Container Store, are doubling down on loyalty programs to drive…

Neiman Marcus Offering Extended Paid Parental and Family Leave Programs
May 9, 2022 at 7:32 pm

Neiman Marcus Group (NMG) on Friday announced its new paid family leave benefits for all associates, working full or part time, according to a company press release. NMG said that as of January, the retailer has offered 16 weeks of paid leave for anyone welcoming a child, including via adoption, surrogacy or foster care. This time is in…

Starbucks to Hike Wages, Increase Employee Training to Hold Off Union Push
May 3, 2022 at 5:41 pm

Starbucks said it will hike wages for tenured workers and double training for new employees as the company and its CEO, Howard Schultz, seek to beat back the union push from its baristas. However, the coffee giant will not offer the enhanced benefits to workers at the roughly 50 company-owned cafes that have voted to unionize.…

How Retailers Can Use Technology to Compensate for Labor Shortages
May 2, 2022 at 4:31 pm

It’s a common occurrence in today’s retail landscape: merchants must continually confront labor shortages or unexpected employee illness. For smaller retailers, closing their doors for even a few minutes can profoundly affect revenue and challenge the loyalty of customers who are forced to shop elsewhere. Technology can be the key to overcoming workforce challenges. Retail-ready…

Hy-Vee to Move 500 HQ Workers to Store-Based Roles
April 28, 2022 at 6:30 pm

Grocery chain Hy-Vee says it will ask up to 500 of its employees to move from corporate-level jobs to retail positions at its stores. The move comes after the company already eliminated 121 corporate-level positions in March. Hy-Vee says 102 of those employees were offered retail positions. In addition to shifting employees' jobs, the company…

3 Data-Backed Ways to Drive Worker Retention, Productivity, Revenue and More
April 21, 2022 at 12:38 pm

What do retail workers want? This is the question I’m hearing from every retailer I’ve spoken to in the past year. As we strive to find some sense of post-pandemic normalcy — or at least start to understand what our new normal looks like — retail organizations are struggling to battle rising costs and heightened…

Amazon to Conduct Racial Disparity Audit of Hourly US Employees
April 20, 2022 at 4:40 pm

Following shareholder pressure around the company's hiring practices, Amazon.com has retained former Attorney General Loretta Lynch to conduct a racial equity study. Amazon said in a filing last week that the audit would "evaluate any disparate racial impacts" of its policies on its U.S. hourly employees. The company said the audit will be conducted by Lynch,…

How Consumer Grade Workforce Management Systems Help Retailers Keep Pace
April 12, 2022 at 7:21 pm

“Greater competition, increasing consumer demands, a tight labor market, new compliance legislation, and a workforce expecting more from employers — all are making life difficult for retailers around the world.” Sound familiar? Of course it does. The truth is “upheaval” is the standard state of business. “New technologies disrupting business as usual” is a complaint…

Zappos.com Appoints Scott Schaefer CEO
April 7, 2022 at 8:30 pm

Experiential e-commerce retailer Zappos.com has appointed Scott Schaefer as its new CEO, effective immediately, according to a statement released by the company on Wednesday. The move comes two years after late Zappos founder Tony Hsieh stepped down as CEO in August 2020 after 21 years leading the business, and a few months after its most recent…