NRF: Retail Means Jobs (Good Jobs?)
A major theme of this week's National Retail Federation 101st Annual Convention was that "Retail Means Jobs." And NRF supported that contention by citing lots of statistics related to retail in the U.S.:
- Retail supports one in four American jobs, or a total of 42 million.
- Retail has a total GDP impact of $2.48 trillion.
- The industry operates 3.6 million establishments.
- Retail is the number one private sector employer.
- Retail provides 50,000+ jobs per congressional district (hint, hint).
These are impressive and are a big part of NRF's effort to show just how important the retail industry is as they step up lobbying on issues such as: interchange fee reduction; sales tax fairness; free trade policy; modernizing U.S. infrastructure; health care reform; and reforming the U.S. visa process for workers. NRF seems to be on a serious campaign to promote solutions for issues that are of major importance to the retailing industry, and one has to give them credit for this campaign, their aggressiveness and, as a side note, the terrific and enthusiastic turn out for their just completed 'BIG Show.'
Regarding jobs, though, I wonder if it makes a difference how well-paying they are. A recent study of New York City retail workers cited in The New York Times found that they earn approximately $9.50 per hour and that many received no health insurance benefits. Workers complain that irregular work schedules make it difficult to make arrangements in advance for childcare and to enroll in educational classes. (Although this study was done by a City University professor, it was financed by a union and an organization funded by unions.)
Reporting on the same study, The Huffington Post said that female workers made nearly a dollar less per hour than their male counterparts and that few workers of either sex were entitled to paid sick days. And retailers were set to make approximately 500,000 temporary hires this past holiday season, which obviously has an inherent problem in that they are temporary.
As a frame of reference, a retail worker making $9.50 per hour for 52 weeks per year, at 35 hours per week would earn $17,290. The federal poverty guidelines are currently $10,890 for a single person; $14,710 for a family of 2; and $18,530 for a family of 3.
In contrast to the study numbers, indeed.com says that the average starting salary for a retail sales associate is $28,000, while the average chief executive's salary (not specific to retail) is $206,000.