Nearly two thirds (63%) of retail leaders expect to hire more staff during the run up to the busy Christmas period, new market research reveals.
According to a study by retail technology company Fourth, 42% of employees have negative feelings as a result of staff shortages.
As festive celebrations near, this is set to worsen as 53% of grocery business leaders feel anxious about Covid-19 infections.
“Forecasting must become a top priority for retail leaders looking to manage staffing levels in an uncertain and disrupted market,” Fourth EMEA MD Sebastien Sepierre told The Grocer.
“Forecasting helps avoid costly instances of over and under-staffing by informing managers of when and where a store should increase or decrease staffing levels.”
“It is vital that retail leaders respond to these concerns, as underappreciated employees lead to high staff turnover rates with huge consequences for a business.”
This news comes as many grocery retailers have launched Christmas recruitment drives to support current staff through the run up to Christmas.
Today (2 November), Big 4 grocer Sainsbury unveiled its plans to create 18,000 additional seasonal jobs to help meet the extra demand and “ensure customers receive outstanding service this Christmas”.
Last month Morrisons said it was looking for 3,500 new employees, offering 500 more jobs than it did during last year’s festive recruitment drive including customer assistants, home delivery drivers, machine operatives, warehouse operatives and production operatives.
Leading retailer Tesco also looks to take on 15,000 temporary workers across the UK to work across its Superstores and Extra stores for either early morning, day or evening shifts.
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thanks for info