The Retail Staffing Problem
One of the big retail trends of 2021 will be the continued shortage of workers. There are a couple of big reasons for this.
In the short-term, while the opening of the economy will help retail, the experience needs to be great for people to stay, otherwise, people will wonder why am I out shopping in disheveled stores when I could be home shopping in my pajamas. The top of the pyramid who have better store experiences will receive outsized benefits
People still being needed at home and deciding to take a little extra time off - aided by... A little extra pandemic stimulus check could delay this a few weeks tops, but I don't believe it is the primary factor.
Front-line service workers not willing to sacrifice their COVID health for a paycheck. I think this is one of the primary factors. COVID is driving everything else and its effects.
What happens when talent flows to the winners? The losers almost get worse faster than the top improve. Wages will keep rising, and I do think there will be inflationary effects to labor shortages. As vaccines increase - particularly the US which is already starting to run into "vaccine hesitancy" more than "vaccine supply" issues - price of labor increases, which increases the costs of goods and services
