“A job is a job, so…” 

Yonkers Lowes employee Joseff Ayala returned to the retail world in the hardware department after a year at Westchester Community College (WCC) “just for money.” Despite the money, he enjoys retail mostly because he said, “I get to help customers.”

Ayala’s fellow hardware worker, Angelina Nunez, who is a sophomore art and design major at WCC, disagreed with her experience in retail and said, “People are nice, but the job as a whole sucks.” 

The second top industry for young workers, like Ayala and Nunez, to work in is the retail trade with about 13 percent employed in 2022. For the most part, the young workers, around ages 16-34, are content.

However, stemming from COVID-19 time trends, including “quiet quitting” and #quittok blowing up with 55 million views on TikTok, young American workers are increasingly less satisfied with their jobs than older workers.  

Ayala and a Lowe’s supervisor, who has chosen to remain anonymous, previously served in the Army and works in Lowe’s as his retirement job. As an older retail employee, he distinguishes the difference between his generation and Ayala’s. 

“I find a lot of younger people who don’t stay long here, nor want to work here,” he said. “The world has turned, they don’t want to go out and work. They only work for the paycheck.”

Career Development 

The turnover rate for retail workers in the United States stands at a staggering 60-65 percent annually, reflecting a significant portion of the workforce, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). 

Michelle Leumeny, a 19-year-old retail worker at TJ Maxx said, “It’s just good for the money.” Her sentiment may have underscored a prevailing attitude among young workers who may not see long-term potential in retail careers.

Although the TJ Maxx Manager could not comment, TJ Maxx shared their mission with their customers and associates and said, “Over the years, our efforts have focused on quality enrichment and extracurricular programs that provide skills, resources, and opportunities to support school and career success in the hopes of helping to create a brighter future for children, teens, and young adults.”

Some must need quick cash and realize that is all there is.

An anonymous Forever 21 employee added, “This is just a job for me to have money. It’s not really for me to grow in. But I know there are ways to move up. It just depends on the store.”

Many workers can enter the retail workforce in entry-level positions like cashiers, sales associates, or customer service representatives. While this may be suitable for students or those seeking short-term employment, career advancement can raise concerns about the long-term viability of a retail career.

Advancing from entry-level to supervisory roles can typically take one to three years, contingent on leadership skills. The transition from supervisory to management roles requires a more substantial timeframe, often ranging from three to five years or longer. 

Specialized roles within the retail sector can present an even more significant challenge due to the industry’s high turnover rates. The constant influx and departure of employees can hinder the establishment of structured career development paths. 

Factors contributing to high turnover include workplace flexibility, limited career development opportunities, concerns about health and well-being, compensation issues, and a perceived lack of meaningful work.

 To address these challenges, retail companies should be cognizant of their turnover rates and actively seek ways to improve employee retention. Some companies, such as SEJ Services and Duracell, have implemented daily pay systems.

However, the issue can lie in a lack of support provided to workers, impacting their mental well-being, job satisfaction, and, ultimately, customer service quality.

Michael Morales is a young retail worker at Dick’s Sporting Goods. He said, “It’s more pocket money for now. It’s a helping hand, you shouldn’t shame retail in any type of way. There’s jobs worse than retail. It’s for the time being, you not going to work in retail forever. Unless it’s what you love.”

Staff Wellbeing

Injuries

The retail sector has the second highest number of reported injuries among young student workers, with about 20%, the highest amounts are all within the food and hospitality industries.

Ayala said, “Even if there is danger. I’m a risk taker, so…”

Ayala is currently looking into getting licensed to operate the heavy machinery at Lowes. Although Ayala feels comfortable looking danger in the eye, many other employees in retail, some even his peers, do not share that same sentiment.

Nunez said, “Using the tall ladder is scary because it can be unstable.”

Although most retail stores may not have inexperienced young associates managing dangerous equipment, some are asked to do jobs that aren’t under their jurisdiction, which can make them uncomfortable and unequipped while doing their jobs. Dangerous equipment can even include the Lowe’s gates that prevent customers from entering an aisle as it is being worked on, as the one depicted below is held up by wire. 

Niko Borrero-Garcia works at Lowe’s in the customer service front end. He enjoys his job. However, a big part of his dissatisfaction in retail stemmed from retail’s lack of advancing and upgrading technology and equipment. 

“Upgrading technology makes it more exciting to come to work. They are making slow and steady progress. I would like to see more.”

Garcia raved about his satisfaction with the updates that were done in the customer service area, but it’s not enough. “We are very far behind our competitors in certain areas.”

Borrero-Garcia even explained that some retail outlets does not have contactless payments like Apple Pay. Although that may seem like a minor grievance, for someone like Borrero-Garcia, whose entire job depends on customer satisfaction, it’s a complaint they receive often. 

Although unnecessary, workplace injuries in retail corporations, like Lowe’s, seem more likely due to their duties being more labor-intensive. Still, employees in stores such as Dick’s Sporting Goods are cautious while doing their jobs.

 Morales said, “The only unsafe part is climbing the ladder; it’s at your own risk.”

Morales has been working at Dicks as an associate for a little less than a year and feels that although the ladder may seem intimidating that he is well-equipped to handle it.

He continued, “There is proper training. When you first get here, people tell you to be careful, but it is a simple ladder. It’s not going to fall or anything. Sometimes it can be wobbly, but they’re ladders, so it’s not going to be the safest thing on the planet.”

Since Morales has been working at Dick’s, he has not seen anyone injured on the job but assumed that worker’s compensation would be offered if an onsite injury occurred to an employee.

In addition to physical injuries, there are other sectors in which employees can feel unsafe while doing their jobs. Nunez has faced some difficult and uncomfortable situations while on the sales floor.

Nunez said, “My mental health worsens because managers are inconsiderate with tasks and customers make me feel weird and uncomfortable.” A few instances where Nunez claims she felt unsafe referred to a man taking pictures of her from behind while going up a ladder and having a different customer continuously look specifically for her and offer her candy or snacks after she refused multiple times.

She added, “I don’t feel good about it at all.”

Miscommunication 

An anonymous college student who works at Forever 21 said, “This is just a job for me to have money. It’s not really for me to grow in.” 

According to the Lowe’s supervisor, it seems the consensus is that “They only work for a paycheck when you push them. You need to stay on top of them.”

 When asked about their pay, most employees felt that the minimum wage offered was fair for the most part, each varying depending on their roles.

 In addition, when asked what would improve their employment experience, the responses primarily stemmed from management.

Nunez said, “Managers can be more considerate with their employees in and out of the workplace, recognizing we all have lives.” Co-worker Ayala added, “Sometimes we get told we’re not doing it right. I think we are. They just want to be extra.”

Alyssa Ramirez, who works beside Morales at Dick’s Sporting Goods, said, “Management is about understanding and communicating better. The communication is really off sometimes. A lot of the time, we aren’t told certain things, and then they just expect us to do it. Also trying to understand us, since we are still all young. Sometimes a lot of things come into play where we can’t make it, or we can’t do this or that.”

More managerial support

Borrero-Garcia fully understands that working retail while in school is very demanding. Borrero-Garcia recently graduated with his bachelor’s in political science from Hunter College and is currently looking into a master’s program. He said, “If someone is able to balance out work-life balance, with Lowes and school and personal time. Good for them. Personally, for me, I could not. It’s a demanding job.”

However, Lowe’s seems to encourage such balance and career advancement and said, “Here, we believe in empowering early-career or newly changed career professionals. You’ll discover endless opportunities to learn new skills, innovate with a Fortune 50 company, and make a positive impact in over 1700+ communities across the U.S.”

In companies such as Forever 21, employees, management, and clientele primarily rage on the younger spectrum. While corporations such as Lowe’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods, where managing staff is usually older, this enjoyment at work does not seem to translate to their young associates.

 Older workers are usually more satisfied with their jobs, according to Pew Research Center. Adults within the 30 to 49-year-old age range are about 50 percent satisfied with their employment, and as the age increases, so does the percentage of satisfaction. Meanwhile, workers aged 18 to 29 are less than satisfied, with only around 40 percent of young people enjoying their jobs. When young workers were asked what aspect of their job they were most satisfied with, 65 percent were extremely satisfied with their relationship with their co-workers.

Some young retail workers who enjoy their jobs insist that it is due to the workplace environment that comes primarily from their peers. An anonymous Forever 21 employee shared her oldest worker is 26, its store manager.

“We’re all close. We have to be since we are a small store. For Black Friday, we were all together. It was good vibes.”

She believes that due to management and employees ranging from 16 to 26 years old, the dynamic at Forever 21 is different than most.

“They’re [management] understanding. I can go to them stressing out, and they’ll say to take a ten. They don’t have to, but they do because they care. I think that’s more on the managers than the company. I can’t speak for the company itself.”

Some young retail workers feel their relationship with their coworkers brings joy to their jobs. It seems that working amongst peers in retail can create a better work-life balance across multiple retail stores.

Ramirez said, “Me and a lot of coworkers are close. We hang out outside of work.” Coworker Morales added, “The other worker [Alyssa], we were just talking about finals week. It’s a lot of things to relate to people when you have people in your age group.”

Borrero-Garcia, who has been out of school and primarily focused on working, said, “There are a lot of challenges. I welcome those. If it wasn’t for the people, I couldn’t do it.”

Understaffed

Understaffing can be a big problem within retail and a primary point of contention between employees and management.

An anonymous source from Forever 21 claimed they do not have a staffing issue. The Forever 21 looked to have boxes lined against the employee exit, dilapidated dressing rooms closed to the public, and two employees in the store.  

Usually, during the holidays, retail companies are bustling with cheery employees and customers. In 2023, since the COVID-19 pandemic, most shoppers do all their shopping online, in turn affecting many retail stores and the number of employees they have on a sales floor.

Ramirez says, “Customers don’t know that we are understaffed. It gets really hectic at times.”  Associates can be called from their positions on the sales floor to the registers and even help in departments they do not know about.

At Lowe’s, being understaffed affects employee schedules and, in turn, their paychecks. “They seem like they don’t care because they still schedule you for the days you can’t work,” said Nunez.

Understaffing issues can create a conflict for the customers as well. The only registers open on arrival were self-checkouts, for which a person had to wait on a single file line that ran midway into the lighting bay. 

Workplace Flexibility 

Young retail workers at Dick’s Sporting Goods and TJ Maxx shared that their management helped them with work flexibility, particularly with their student-worker schedules.

 Leumeny from TJMaxx added, “Oh yeah, I only work on weekends.”

Leumeny, a student at the College of Westchester, expressed that her job isn’t too hard as she only works on weekends, and her management is flexible with her working hours. Since she is a part-time employee, she said regarding how to improve her job, “I have no idea most of the time. I am not here every day.”

While she doesn’t know how things could be improved, she believes that considering the work she does, she should be paid more.

Dick’s Sporting Goods is well-known for having young workers in its sporting goods stores, aiming to attract a younger audience.

 Morales mentioned, “I do have work flexibility. They try to because that is the whole purpose—to have young workers like me. They want to do their best to help the store, so they work around my schedule.”

Morales added that even though his managers are older than him, he enjoys the job, connecting and talking to people daily, with the added benefit of a flexible work schedule. 

Despite Leumeny and Morales having good flexibility with their work schedules, not everyone can be as fortunate.

 The Lowe’s Supervisor expressed frustration with some retail workers, finding them lazy. He said, “The first young gentleman always enters and asks what he needs to do. It’s like, go find something to do.”

He explained that the motivation of young workers is sometimes lacking and added, “We have a pretty good staff except for a few young men; if I could get rid of them, I would.”

He also shared that there is flexibility for the workers, allowing them to work on their schedule. The Lowe’s Supervisor emphasized that the store recognizes the importance of accommodating different schedules, especially for student-workers, and they strive to provide flexibility to ensure a balanced work-life arrangement. 

 However, he also expressed dissatisfaction with Lowe’s and said, “I mean, we don’t even get Veteran’s Day off.” He spent over a decade of service to America, and he feels that is a day where special consideration should be taken into account. 

Compensation 

Young workers seem to be the most unsatisfied when it comes to how much they are paid and their opportunities for promotion at work, according to Pew Research Center.  

Leumeny is among the unsatisfied and said, “They make us work a lot in here. They don’t pay like a lot.”

Understaffed retail workers sometimes have to deal with additional tasks outside of their designated role or position without a pay increase, which can worsen workplace morale. Ramirez said, “Sometimes you’re doing more than what you’re supposed to be said to do.” 

Ramirez also mentioned how her experience working at Dick’s Sporting Goods was directly affected by understaffing. She said, “The description says that you’re hired to fold clothes, but in reality, I’m on register, I’m in a different department, and I’m helping other people.”

Retail workers like Ramirez have to pick up the pieces to help their stores run efficiently, but at what cost? One cost could be stress as the store’s customer traffic and demand rise. 

Many young retail workers even view their jobs as a way to make money during the school year or in the summer but others find it to be less than ideal, especially if it’s their sole stream of income. 

Ramirez said in terms of growth in retail, “Depends on the circumstances. Of the people that I know, some have left, and others have gotten their raise or promotion. It depends on your work ethic. If you’re working really hard and bring in money for the company, they will promote you.”

The pay isn’t always the most important factor to some retail workers like Nunez. Simply making more than minimum wage is enough. She said, “The pay isn’t that bad, it’s more than minimum wage so it’s okay.”

Ayala and Leumeny share a similar sentiment about the pay, agreeing that retail work is a good way for students to make money. 

“Yeah, you can make good money. You don’t have to do it too much,” said Leumeny. 

About 30 percent of employed U.S. adults aged 18-29 are extremely or very satisfied with the amount they are paid, according to Pew Research Center. While also about 30 percent find the pay to be not too satisfying or not at all. Almost 40 percent of those find the pay to be somewhat satisfying. 

Young retail workers are just as divided in their satisfaction with the opportunity for promotion and a raise in the workplace. Pew Research Center data shows that about 30 percent of workers aged 18-29 say they are extremely or very satisfied, and almost 40 percent are somewhat satisfied. About 30 percent are not too or not at all satisfied. 

What Mercy Students in Retail Have to Say 

Freshman Mercy student Jan found himself trying to make money stretch as he supported himself in school and paid for his other life expenses. 

 “For the hours that I work, I get like $380 a week. The only thing is since I’m living alone and I have to do car payments that I pay $200 every week I only get about $180 for my food and bills so I really have to make that money stretch.” He added, “But I would say for a person living with their parents or having some support, it’s pretty good extra money.”

Despite compensation not being the most satisfactory for young retail workers, Jan said, “Another aspect is not just the money but the job itself. And that’s where I feel unsatisfied…I find myself only being motivated by I need to work I need to pay the bills but it’s not really anything that I enjoy.”

Jan works at ShopRite in White Plains while he studies general business at Mercy University. His duties at ShopRite consist of working the front-end self-checkout or cash register the job is “very static” as Jan added, “Easy in the sense of the process. Hard on the feet.” 

This has led to a lot of Jan’s dissatisfaction as he said, “I don’t like it at all. I’m actually thinking about putting in my two weeks’ notice.”

Jan has tried to quit before, however, he described his manager as “one of the nicest people I’ve ever met” and was the reason he stayed the first time he tried to quit.

About two-thirds of employed adults ages 18 to 29 (about 60 percent) say they’re extremely or very satisfied with their relationship with their manager or supervisor, according to Pew Research Center.  

Despite this mostly positive relationship, Jan said regarding his mental health working at ShopRite, “I don’t think stress is mental health. But I would say it’s very stressful.” He added from his perspective as a young college student, “It can be seen as affecting your mental health because you start to compare yourself with other students and you say why are these students already working in their field? How do they have time to work or study and I barely have time to do either?”

As a college student, Jan would like to see more programs for students like him to grow at ShopRite, such as being able to shadow somebody in a high position. He said, “That would really motivate me. That would make me feel like I’m doing something towards my major and not just working for the money.” 

Fellow freshman Mercy student Raven studying biology found it hard to progress in her major and career field working in retail. She said, “Me, it’s more for the money. Career-wise, no [not for career development].”

Raven works at a local Aero with a team that consists of mostly high schoolers and college students, like herself. She said, “It has its ups and downs. I don’t really like it.” She added, “The ups would be my coworkers. The downs is the customers.” About two-thirds of employed adults ages 18 to 29 (65 percent) say they’re extremely or very satisfied with their relationship with their co-workers, according to Pew Research Center. 

Although Raven is working in retail mostly for the money, she does wish the pay would be higher than the minimum wage of $15 and said, “I feel retail stores, in general, should be higher than that because of the amount of things the employee does to satisfy the customers.” She even inquired about workers who work from morning until the night shift deserving a tip and said, “I think all employees do deserve a tip.”

For the most part, her experience at Aero has left her mental health good but she believes it really depends on the retail store, the corporate, and the management. She added from friends experiences, “I’ve heard places like Old Navy. It’s bad.”

Retail Realities 

The overall discontentment of young retail workers has seemed to stem the most so far from the low reward compensation and the stunts in career progression. A light of satisfaction seemed to illuminate the people beneath the barcode, whether that be managers, supervisors, or customers, as Ayala said, “You learn things every day and you never know who you’re going to meet.” 

Despite this concept, the realization of retail for young workers aligns with as Ayala’s coworker Nunez described, “It’s a job that’s not for everyone.”