Working in retail management is always challenging, especially this time of the year. The Christmas merchandise is flowing into the store at an astronomical rate. It's coming in so fast that it's almost impossible to find a place on the sales floor to merchandise it all.
This is also the time of the year when most retailers are hiring for the Christmas season, such as is the case with the company that I work for. Of course several retailers are hiring only part-time employees and the same holds true with the company that I work for.
In past years, we have never had a shortage of applicants looking for part-time seasonal work. Usually there is no end to college students looking to pick up a few extra bucks this time of the year, however what I've experienced while interviewing applicants this year is quite different than in previous years.
Most of the applicants that I've interviewed so far are looking for full-time jobs with benifits such as health insurance. We are only allowed to have 6 full-time employees and those positions are filled. Considering the job market in the area where we are located, I don't forsee any of those full-time employees leaving anytime soon.
Of course when I explain our current hiring practices as well as the fact that there is little to no hope of ever getting full-time status, the applicants always reply " Hey, I'll take it. I need the money. "
When hiring for part-time positions, it's usually a major mistake to hire an applicant who is really looking for full-time work into a part-time position where there is little to no hope of gaining full-time status. Of course it's hard to deny them a job since they need the money. However from past experience, everytime that I hired a person who was looking for full-time work into a part-time position, they either picked up another part-time job thus limiting their availability at our store, or they eventually found a full-time job ( which may take quite a while ) elsewhere and quit, leaving us high and dry during the Christmas season when we needed them the most.
Case in point....I recently took a week of vacation. Before I left, my boss was pounding home the point that we needed to get some part-time employees hired for the Christmas season and fast. He promised that he would have at least two people hired by the time that I returned from vacation. I advised him not to hire any applicants who were looking for full-time work. Did he listen? Read below...
When I returned from vacation, I noticed that he had indeed hired two people. I was greeted by the first new employee at the office door. He was hired to fill the evening shift. However once I started filling out his paperwork, he stated that he had also accepted another part-time job and the job required him to work the evening shift, which is the same shift that we hired him for. I'd bet that my boss forgot to ask him if he was looking for a part-time job..or a full-time job, which is the very first question that I ask when interviewing an applicant since our applications don't have a box to check for ' full-time ' or ' part-time'
It doesn't end there. My boss also interviewed another applicant and he left me a note to call and offer the applicant a job. When I called the applicant to offer the job, the first question that he asked was " How long will it take me to make it to full-time? " Of course at that point since the job offfer had already been made, I couldn't back out. However before I began filling out his paperwork, I laid it on the line. In an attempt to discourage him from accepting the job, I stated straight up that the chances of him ever obtaining full-time status were slim to none. He replied " Right now I need the money, but I'll probably have to pick up another part-time job in order to make ends meet "
I'd bet that neither of those employees are going to last very long.
Considering my experience with recent applicants, I posted a sign on the entrance door stating " Now Hiring... Part-Time Seasonal Help Only ". I posted that sign 3 days ago and since then, we have only received 1 application.
In the past, most people who were looking for retail jobs were just looking to pick up some extra bucks...high school students..college students...ect. However nowadays, it seems that most people who are seeking jobs in the retail sector are bread winners looking for full-time jobs with benifits, which are almost un-obtainable in the retail sector these days.
That's the reality in the area in which I live. I'd be very interested in hearing stories along these lines from different parts of our country.
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Comments: 58
Just for the record, I'm here because that's where Uncle Sam sent my husband. :)
That comment leads me to ask you why you made the comment that I qouted below....
"We don't have that problem up here. It seems like EVERYWHERE is hiring. Full time, part time, with benefits, without. It doesn't matter, as long as someone wants to work, they can find a job. Our Walmart super center opened in July 2006, and they have never had as many people working there as they want. Some fast food places are offering $10 or more an hour, and we live in a place where the cost of living is relatively low. "
Wonder why the Wal-Mart Super Center has never had as many people working there as they want? Or why fast food places there are paying $10 or more per hour?
But they had no problem finding the workers, it has just been finding those workers that will work...
So, he's been looking for a p/t job for the evenings and weekends to pick up some extra money for the times when this happens (quite often) at his regular job. He's so far been unlucky. It seems that this year, all the places hiring seasonal workers want them to be available 24/7. I find this funny because usually nobody wants to work nights and weekends, and here my hubby is volunteering for those shifts with no luck.
Any suggestions?
Dan.....Part-time or full-time?
Jill..he's exactly what we are looking for. Problem is that most people in this area are looking for permanent full-time jobs.
You should try for stay-at-home moms looking for Christmas money. There is no way I'd go back to work for more than a month or two and there is no way I'd even do that a full 40 hours a week.
12,000 jobs at Chrysler gone , a whole bunch of smaller manufacturing jobs here are disappearing,
The part time market is even slow here.
Tim , what no illegals in your area ?;-(
Just kidding , don't hunt me down.;-)
Seems most places that offer benefits only do so to full timers .
Charlotte..Interesting comment. Of all of the new jobs created during the month of October, most of the new jobs were in the service industry.
" Everyone on my shift also had another job, in some cases, full time. "
That's exactly what's happening here Charlotte. The days of students looking to fill those jobs are in the past. Bread winners are now out there seeking work in the retail/ service sector.
" Isn't it true that it's cheaper to hire two part timers than one full timer ? "
" Seems most places that offer benefits only do so to full timers "
Don..yes most employers don't offer benifits to part-time employees. That's why many employers are only hiring part-time help. However when I worked for Wal-Mart, the company conducted a survey that estimated a cost pf appx $2,000.00 per very employee that quit and the estimated cost included reviewing applications, the interview process, orientation of new employees, paperwork at the store level as well as the corporate level, training new employees..and when they quit..paper work at the store level as well as the corporate level..then you have to hire somebody to replace them and the cycle starts over again.
Considering the number of part-time employees that we have turned over during this year, I wonder if it would have been cheaper to hire more full-time employees with benifits? Of course there has to be a balance between part-time and full-time employees.
Ron..that's interesting. Todd pretty much tells the same story about the job market down in New Orleans.
Joe...that's exactly the situation here...same thing..people who would rather be working full-time with benifits.
Lori..What kind of jobs are available in Iowa?
Also EDS Hagies farm supplies are manufactured here.
Quite the variety of employment opportunities.
Nope...but I wish that they would. I'd hire them in a heartbeat!
" I wonder if the trend you are noticing will change once the boomers start retiring. "
I hope so.
I am a trainer, and looking like I will have to have one let go now, as she is so bad in attitude and laziness, it is no use having her there.
Courtesy of Hurricane Katrina, there are lots of full time jobs in Baton Rouge.
New Orleans too!!!!! ........C'mon down!!!!
Elizabeth..thanks. That's one of the main points of this article.
" New Orleans too!!!!! ........C'mon down!!!! "
Todd...I'm sending some applicants down there to you , you coonass Les Paul playing head banging maniac! LOL !!
The jobs that have any substance, offering benefits and higher wages are laying off and even closing down. This is a 'high cost of living' area that doesn't offer wages comparible to what it cost to live here. I know several breadwinners that are working full-time and 2 part time jobs to make ends meet. Sad!!!
Thanks for this, Tim.
Lynn..same thing here.
Lots of great comments, too. Based on what's been posted, it sounds like things are reasonably good for a lot of people, in many different parts of the US. As I said in another discussion, most people I know are doing OK, and feel they're doing better now than they were 10 or or 15 years ago. That also tends to fit in fairly well with recent national polls. Of course, now matter how many people are doing well, that doesn't make things any easier for those who aren't.
And if you would read a little bit deeper into some of those posts, different issues have sparked the full-time job market on those areas. For instance, the construction sector is booming on the Gulf Coast due to hurricane Katrina and things look good in North Dakota due to a military base there. The only area that looks pretty strong overall is Iowa due to a strong manufacturing infastructure there. Also if you'll take note, alot of people are working two part-time jobs to make up the slack of not having a full-time job.
Also, the service sector lead the way in new jobs created in the month of October. With Wal-Mart being the nations largest employer, wonder how good the folks working those new jobs are doing? Jobs in the service sector aren't the highest paing jobs.
And a lot more people are not working two part-time jobs. In fact, if you look at Gallup polls for the last 15 years or so, there hasn't been much change in terms of the number of people who work more than one job -- around 12 to 17 per cent.
Another number that's stayed relatively the same over the last 15 or 20 years is the percentage of people who feel very secure about the security of their job. That's stayed between 40 and 49%, and was 44% as of Sept.
When asked how they felt about their financial situation, between 15 and 20% of people say they feel very secure. Another 45 to 55% say they feel fairly secure, 15 to 22% say they feel that their financial position is fairly shaky, and 10 to 15% feel it's very shaky. And again, those numbers have been fairly steady for the past 15 years or so.
Generally speaking, I think about 70% of people in the US are doing alright. Sure, they'd take more money if they could get it, and sometimes they worry about their jobs, or about covering all their expenses and debt, etc. but mostly they're getting by reasonably well. Then there's the 30% who are just barely getting by, or not quite getting by, and for them it's a constant struggle. In a lot of cases, they make enough so that they don't qualify for a lot of welfare and other programs, but they don't make enough to pay the bills and live a more-or-less normal life.
"Jobs in the service sector aren't the highest paying jobs."
That depends on the job. But what exactly is it that you want to happen, Tim? Do you want companies like the one you work for to offer better-paying, full-time jobs with good benefits? Or do you want to get away from retail and the service sector and see more factories that offer better-paying, full-time jobs with good benefits?
Personally, I would fall in that 15 to 20% . But then again I have 24 years experience in retail management, so if my company fired me tomorrow, I'd bet that I would be in a management position with another company within 2 weeks if not sooner. However not everyone is that lucky. Some people used to be able to work in a factory and retire there. That way of life is going by the wayside. With 3.2 million manufacturing jobs lost since 2001, and the service sector leading the way as far as new jobs created in October, I wonder where those who lost their jobs are working? I can also show you entire industrial parks that are virtual ghost towns
"But what exactly is it that you want to happen, Tim? Do you want companies like the one you work for to offer better-paying, full-time jobs with good benefits? "
We already offer our full-time associates good pay with very good benifits. However, we usually have a staff of 25 associates with only 6 full time positions. We used to have 10 full-time positions and we had very little turnover. Now that the full-time positions have been whacked to 6, the turnover has been astronomical with very few people looking to fill the part-time positions. So I'd say that 10 out of the 25 being full-time was a pretty good balance.
" Or do you want to get away from retail and the service sector and see more factories that offer better-paying, full-time jobs with good benefits? "
Manufacturing jobs have been the heart and soul of this country for years, so yes...we need to bring back the manufacturing jobs that have gone overseas. I'd like to see someone do a poll on that question. It would be interesting to see the results of that one.
Sounds good, Tim. I wonder why the company you work for doesn't see it that way? Do you think it's mostly about benefits? Do you think they would be more willing to hire full-time workers if healtcare wasn't tied to employment? Or do you think they're being stupid, and that the money they'd spend on healthcare and other benefits would be made back in lower staff turnover, higher productivity, etc.? Not to mention the non-economic benefits associated with treating employees decently instead of trying to figure out how to screw them in as many ways possible.
After all, Starbucks provides healthcare benefits to it's part-timers, and it seems to be doing pretty well even though they spend more on employee healthcare than they do on coffee. It's almost like they think their employees are just as important as the product they sell. Wow, what a concept! LOL!
"Manufacturing jobs have been the heart and soul of this country for years, so yes...we need to bring back the manufacturing jobs that have gone overseas."
And before that agriculture was the heart and soul of the country. I don't think many of those manufacturing jobs re going to come back, any more than all those farm jobs are going to come back. And I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. If we want more manufacturing jobs, I think we need to forget about the ones that have gone overseas and instead focus on creating new, better ones.
Yes, it's about the benifits. And it's not just the company that I work for. It seems to be a recent trend throughout the retail sector.
"Do you think they would be more willing to hire full-time workers if healtcare wasn't tied to employment? "
Probably so, but the main issue that applicants are bringing up is a benifit package including health insurance. So in theory, that probably wouldn't work.
" Or do you think they're being stupid, and that the money they'd spend on healthcare and other benefits would be made back in lower staff turnover, higher productivity, etc.? "
Yes, yes and yes. When I worked for Wal-Mart, they estimated that it cost about $2,000 bucks per each employee that quit. The cost included reveiwing applications, the interview process,the orientation process, new hire paperwork at the store level and corporate level, training. And when they quit, the exit interview, paperwork at the store and corporate level...ect. Considering the fact that we lost 11 employees in one week this time last year as well as the Wal-Mart estimates, the total cost of turnover was $22,000 bucks, and that was in just one week. I'd have to put a calculator to it, but it looks like it would have been cheaper overall to offer more full-time positions with benifits.
" I don't think many of those manufacturing jobs re going to come back. "
You're probably right.
" If we want more manufacturing jobs, I think we need to forget about the ones that have gone overseas and instead focus on creating new, better ones. "
It's pretty hard not to concetrate on the jobs that have gone overseas, but I agree with focusing on creating new, better ones.
Do you do your own recruiting or just wait for applicants to come in? If you do any recruiting for your store, stop by a local seniors home and ask to post a flyer, or a couple of churches. We've always gotten great seasonal help from just posting a flyer on their community bulletin boards.
Shannon...I have no choice except to wait for the applicants to come in..reason being that I have many other responsibilities in the store other than hiring thanks to my boss, so I just don't have the time to get out and recruit.
I did post a sign on the front door that read " Now Hiring...Part-time Seasonal Only " as well as putting the word out amoungst my friends. Initally, the results were still the same..people looking for full-time work and very few applicants looking for seasonal part-time work. However we eventually received applications from people looking for part-time seasonal work. In fact, the applications and phone calls became so numerous that I took the sign out of the front window. We have now filled all of the positions, however I still get the people who were looking for full-time work calling me and begging me to hire them.
" Unfortunately, here in CA I'm getting the applicants... but they're mostly ex-realators who need the work and want 70K a year... part time and 70k a year.... *sigh* I can't pay them that even if I thought they were a great candidate. "
You won't believe how many nimrods here on Gather have suggested that the people who have lost their manufacturing jobs should go into the real estate buisness. If real estate is so good, them why are ex-realators looking for jobs in retail?
Shannon..thanks so much for your comments and advice...much appreciated!
Do have any more advice to share?
I'm sorry I haven't been on Gather for a long time. The book is available at any of the online book stores, or directly through the publisher at www.publishamerica.com .
Being honest with your potential applicants is always the best...if you only have part time, tell them that. At least they can never say that you misled them about their position.
Randy