Retail Workers See Their Jobs Change Due to Online Shopping

Retail Workers See Their Jobs Change Due to Online Shopping

Retail shopping is changing. There has never been a better time for shoppers. They have more choices than ever. They can get plenty of help from workers. But do workers like the changes? Some do. Some don’t.

About 16 million Americans work retail jobs. They work as shelf stockers, salespeople, cashiers and more. But online shopping is affecting how they do their jobs. It is affecting how many jobs there are. And it isn’t always raising wages.

To compete with online sellers, sellers like Amazon, stores try to offer better service. Workers at Best Buy will visit shoppers’ homes for free. They will help pick out the right products and set them up.

At Walmart, personal shoppers will get item off the shelves and bring them out to buyers’ cars.

Many workers are doing more than they used to. Some like the new tasks better. Others think their jobs are less fun.

Brenda Moses works at Bloomingdale’s. Fewer shoppers come into the store these days. When they do, they ask lots of questions and compare prices on their phones.

7.   “You tell them everything, and they look at you and say, ‘You know what? I think I will get it online.’” Moses said.

8.   Moses used to earn $19 an hour. She also earned 0.5% on sales she made. Now, she earns 6% on sales she makes. But her hourly wage has dropped. It is now $14 an hour.

The new pay rate means her earnings change based on sales. She also has to compete with other workers.

You have to fight to make your money,” she said.

One human resources group believes up to 60 percent of retail jobs will change to new kinds of jobs with new tasks in the next 10 years.

The speed of change will depend on how fast online shopping, robots and technologies advance. It will also depend on changes in hourly pay.

13. “Jobs for workers will get more interesting,” said expert Craig Rawley. “But… there will be fewer entry-level jobs, and there will be more pressure to perform.”

Laila Umumelaila works at Walmart as a personal shopper. She gets products off the shelves for buyers. She must pick up one item every 30 seconds to meet the store’s goals. If she can’t find something, she has to quickly pick another product that’s as good or better.

You start to get to know the customers, you know what they like,” she said. She likes the work.

16. Wages for hourly retail workers have risen less than 9 percent since 1990. That’s about half the rate for all workers. Ummelaila’s pay rose from $10 to almost $12 an hourwhen she became a personal shopper.

News for You, February 14, 2018

Special Vending Machines Can Help the Homeless

Huzaifah Khaled lives in Nottingham, England. He studied law at the University of Cambridge. For a few years, he spent a lot of time riding trains and waiting in train stations. He had to travel about 90 miles between home and school. During that time, Khaled met a lot of homeless people.

2.   In the U.K., train stations are almost magnets for homeless people,” Khaled said. “I came into contact with a lot of them.”

Khaled took the time to talk and listen to the homeless people he met. He bought them coffee. He formed relationships with some of them. He started thinking a lot about what they needed.

Khaled learned that homeless people had trouble getting basic supplies. In England, day centers offer help for the homeless. But the limited hours make it hard to have a job, see families and visit centers during the day. And basic supplies run out fast.

One day, Khaled thought of a way to help. Why not make a vending machine for the homeless?

Khaled started working on the project in 2016. At the same time, he studied for his law degree. He had success with both efforts.

7.   After many failed tries, Khaled found a vending machine company to join his effort. N&W Global Vending, one of the world’s largest vending companies agreed to help. They gave him a $13,000 machine for free.

The machine can be used at any time. It is stocked with water and fresh food. It also offers supplies such as socks, clothes, toothpaste, toothbrushes and even books. Volunteers fill the machine daily.

Homeless people who get help at the Friary can get a card for the machine. The card lets one person take out up to three items per day. Items are free. But users have to come to the Friary once a week to keep using the card.

A census form is sent out to each home. It asks a set of questions. It asks about the age and sex of each person living in the home. It asks about their education, jobs and how much money they make. It asks about the languages they speak. It asks about the size of their house or apartment. Planning for the census begins early. The set of questions on the form has to be written. People need to be hired and trained. These people go door to door to count those who do not return the form. The U.S. Census Bureau also needs time to let people know about their role in the count.

The Justice Department has asked the Census Bureau to add a question about citizenship. That question has not been asked since 1950. Instead the government gets that data from a survey of parts of the total population.

Census officials are worried about two things. There is little time to add any questions to the form and test them. They planned to finish the form by the end of March. And they worry a question about citizenship status will keep some people from answering the questions.

Rikki Spector had served on the Baltimore City Council in Maryland for close to 39 years. In December 2016, two teenagers attached her. They tried to steal her car. The 80-year-old great grandmother ended up in the hospital. She was bruised. She had a black eye.

Jack Young was president of the city council. He visited Spector in the hospital. It made him very angry to think two teens would attack a small, older woman. He thought Spector would be made, too. But she wasn’t.

3.   “She was more about, ‘What can we do for them?’” Young said. “I was taken aback.”

UEmpower had served both of the teen boys involved in the attack. Suazo felt the need to say she was sorry to Spector in the courtroom. She also asked the councilwoman to visit the neighborhood in which the boys lived. Spector agreed.

Spector and the older teen were honored at a recent event. The audience was full of judges, police and officials. As he walked on stage, the teen was shaking. He leaned on 5-foot-2 Spector for support. He was scared the crowd would hate him for what he had done in the past.

Stick to Sports?

U.S. track athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos did go to those Olympics. They won medals in the 200-meter race. But they each put a black glove on one hand. They raised their fists on the medal stand. They wanted to support human rights.

The Black Lives Matter movement began over the killings of black men by white police officers. The NFL anthem protests were a way of supporting the movement. The protests were started by Colin Kaepernick in August 2016. He was a quarterback with the San Francisco 49ers. He then became a free agent. That is a player who does not have a contract. He can play for any team. But no other team has hired him.

Retail Workers See Their Jobs Change Due to Online Shopping

Retail shopping is changing. There has never been a better time for shoppers. They have more choices than ever. They can get plenty of help from workers. But do workers like the changes? Some do. Some don’t.

About 16 million Americans work retail jobs. They work as shelf stockers, salespeople, cashiers and more. But online shopping is affecting how they do their jobs. It is affecting how many jobs there are. And it isn’t always raising wages.

To compete with online sellers, sellers like Amazon, stores try to offer better service. Workers at Best Buy will visit shoppers’ homes for free. They will help pick out the right products and set them up.

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