It is a curious fact that Bureau of labor statistics, CNN Money, Payscale.com and other web sites make no mention of Retail in any of their Top 10 lists. Retail, the largest employment market with over 6.5 million workers covering a wide variety of duties is completely missing from the 10 best, 100 best, 10 most stressful, 10 least stressful, 10 most meaningful, 10 least meaningful and 10 highest paying jobs. It only appears in the 10 least paying jobs in America!
You know how these lists are. You read Top 10s on two different sites and you get totally different answers. I am sure, someone somewhere will find a list that includes retail. But as a general rule, all the noteworthy action is in healthcare, technology, security and finance with few jobs scattered across many other industries. Nothing from Retail! At a point I got excited to see the retail store manager appear in the stressful jobs. But it turned out to be only the retail managers in Vegas. Not an across America thing.
Surprisingly though, Restaurant workers made the meaningful jobs listing. Apparently restaurant workers, including fast food, believe that they are helping the world become a better place. It is a happy thought when I find a group that believes in itself. Nevertheless, here’s the question to you: – What’s the matter with retail? And what will it take to make retail a more satisfying work experience?