69% of retail workers considering switching careers or industries: survey

If you’ve been on the job market lately and things seem especially challenging, you’re not alone.

In a Criteria survey of 2,500 job seekers, 49% of retail workers reported feeling like the competition is just too high while 53% of workers across industries said they had been “ghosted” by a potential employer.

But perhaps the most concerning finding is that among those who already had a job, 69% of retail workers said they were considering switching careers or industries—the highest percentage of any sector included in the research.

Where are they heading to, you might ask? Well, the tech (48%) and healthcare (37%) industries were the most attractive to job seekers.

For retailers hoping to retain employees and make jobs more appealing, flexible work arrangements were found to be the most desired job benefit, with 44% of those surveyed reporting they’d like a hybrid work schedule.

While most retail workers could probably use a boost in morale, it doesn’t help that women hold a disproportionate number of the lowest-paying frontline jobs in the industry, as Retail Brew previously reported.

Per a study by Catalyst, women made up 69% of retail employees paid an hourly wage under $20 across the US and Canada. But when it comes to the top jobs, women rarely make the cut.

According to a 2024 CNBC report, it was rare for a woman to be named CEO in the retail industry. Per Korn Ferry, just 11% of incoming retail CEOs were women at the time the story was published.