With Malls dying and internet sales thriving, are Retail jobs the next big political fad for politicians to grab – PB/TK
Retail Displacement Remakes Job Force, Looms as Political Issue – By Dante Chinni and Sally Bronston / June 25 2017
WASHINGTON — Amazon has gotten ambitious, and brick-and-mortar retailers have gotten nervous. The online retailer’s purchase of Whole Foods and its announced Prime Wardrobe shipping service caused noticeable dips in the stock prices of many grocery and department stores.
But what could be a new world of online convenience for consumers looks much more troubling to retail workers — the people who greet and serve customers at all those stores in shopping plazas and malls. The numbers suggest a great retail job displacement has begun and it has real economic and political impacts.
The shift can be seen in headlines from this year. In January, Macy’s announced it was shuttering 100 stores. In March, J.C. Penney said it would close 138 locations. Forbes reported earlier this year that 21 retailers had announced the closure of more than 3,500 stores in 2017.
The changes can also be seen in government data. There were fewer people working as retail salespeople in 2016 than in 2014, according to numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics — despite the fact that the unemployment rate was 1.3 points lower.
Continue to nbcnews.com article: http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/retail-displacement-remakes-job-force-looms-political-issue-n776411
