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COVID-19 Decimated Retail, but Some Industry Professionals Remain Optimistic

1,200 retail professionals share how COVID-19 impacted their careers in an exclusive Retail Brew survey.
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Francis Scialabba

4 min read

It’s impossible to overstate the COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating impact on the retail industry. Retail sales fell a record 16.4% in April, per the U.S. Census Bureau. Thousands of stores were temporarily closed to slow the spread of the coronavirus; some may never come back.

COVID-19’s impact on retail can also be measured in disappearing jobs. Throughout the spring, retailers from Macy’s to Everlane to Rent the Runway laid off and furloughed hundreds of thousands of employees. The retail industry shed 2.1 million jobs in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This hit close to home. Many Retail Brew readers work for companies that made sweeping headcount cuts due to the pandemic. So we had to ask: How is COVID-19 impacting our readers’ professional lives?

1,200 Retail Brew readers completed our survey about COVID-19’s effects on their career in April 2020. Here’s what they told us.

The big picture

46% of survey respondents said they were furloughed, had their pay/hours cut, or were laid off in the last 30 days.

Mind the gap. Changes to employment status splintered along essential and nonessential business categories.

Respondents who said they worked at grocers or big box retailers were far less likely to report they’d experienced layoffs, furloughs, or schedule or pay reductions than specialty and department store companies.

  • Among department store employees, 65% said they were laid off or furloughed in the last 30 days.
  • Another 11% of department store employees were handed hour and pay cuts.
  • Only 3% of respondents who worked for a grocery retailer said they were laid off.

The suits angle. The farther your office from stores, the farther your position from COVID-19 cuts. 36% of corporate employees reported they’d been laid off, furloughed, or had hours/pay cut. For in-store employees, that number jumped to 61%.

  • Among the corporate workers affected, less than one-third reported they worked in a senior level position.

Current employees need a pep talk

For the 54% of survey respondents who are still employed, jobs are to have but not always to hold. The feeling that the tables could still turn against them is most prevalent among senior level corporate workers.

Ian McKinnon

More than a fifth of respondents currently holding senior level corporate roles expect a change to their job status. 13% of entry level corporate workers and 8% of in-store staff share that belief.

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Retailers didn't enter the pandemic on equal footing, so attitudes toward future job changes vary by category. Fears that more furloughs or layoffs lurk ahead are highest at department stores. This tracks: Department stores have led the pack of retail bankruptcies and mass staffing changes announced this spring.

Ian McKinnon

Attitudes about job security are more consistent at dot com dominators, like DTC brands and larger online marketplaces. Among these companies, only 17% of currently employed respondents expect a decrease to their pay or hours. 7% of employees who work at online marketplaces and 4% for standalone brands expect to be furloughed or laid off.

  • This also tracks: Shoppers under lockdown backed away from brick and mortar retail and into their couches. As a result, e-comm sales jumped 49% in April, per Adobe Analytics.

Switching gears is for bikes

Respondents who were laid off or furloughed won’t stray from their desired retail career path even if Amazon sends one of 175,000 new frontline positions their way.

Despite facing unemployment for an unknown period of time, 76.5% of currently underemployed respondents said they won’t seek temporary employment at one of the many retailers who are hiring for frontline jobs right now.

  • That cohort rises to 83.7% among respondents who previously held corporate roles.

As for the jobs they do want…currently unemployed workers from the corporate sector are optimistic they won’t be scouring the classifieds for long. But former senior level employees were most confident they’d find a role that matches their career expectations.

Ian McKinnon

Entry and mid level unemployed workers were more open to finding jobs that don't align with their career goals. However, more senior level corporate employees said they wouldn’t find a job (25%) than said they’d find a job that doesn’t match their expectations (15%).

The big takeaway

Experience level and employer category deeply shaped COVID-19’s effects on retail workers, with corporate, senior level workers largely avoiding the worst outcomes. As the crisis abates, similar factors may play equal parts in determining which sidelined workers get back to the store or the office first.

Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know

Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.