The online environment’s adverse effect on the sustainability of the retail workforce

ABSTRACT

The retail environment has undergone seismic changes over the past couple of decades with respect to the predominant venue in which consumers can procure their personal, family, and household goods. This transformation of the retailing landscape means that consumers can engage in “retail” activity via a variety of mediums, including exclusively online. These changes have residual effects on employment dynamics for the individuals who work in this arena.  In particular, the retailing operational changes that result in significant shifts to the online arena beg the question of what becomes of the individuals who were formerly employed on the ground. Using Census data, we analyze employment trends among retail workers, disaggregated by race and gender. Our analysis indicates that the digitalization of the retail economy has so far contributed to a continuation of the wage stagnation and job loss for women (especially women of color) that has been a historical part of the undercurrent of the American workplace landscape. We employ the theory of compensating differentials to provide an explanation for these disparities, while also analyzing the validity of previous application of the theory.

在过去的几十年中, 零售环境发生了巨大的变化, 主要是消费者可以购买个人, 家庭和家庭用品的场所。 零售业格局的这种转变意味着, 消费者可以通过连续的多种媒介参与“零售”活动, 从以传统的实体店为主到以电子商务为主, 到相反的实体极端情况下, 仅在网上运营。 这些变化会对工作环境产生影响, 从而影响到在这个领域工作的个人的就业动态。尤其是, 零售业的经营变化导致了向在线领域的重大转变, 这就要求人们考虑以前在当地就业的个人会变成什么样。对这一问题的调查发现, 零售环境中存在的性别薪酬差距和少数族裔被剥夺选举权的问题, 由于向在线经营的过渡而更加恶化。利用人口普查数据, 我们分析了按种族和性别分类的零售业工人的就业趋势。我们的分析表明, 零售经济的数字化迄今为止促成了女性工资停滞和失业的持续, 这是美国职场格局暗流的历史组成部分。我们发现这对有色人种的女性来说尤其严重。我们还发现, 总体上, 男性没有女性受到的不利影响大。这也符合传统零售环境中存在的现实。我们处理补偿差异理论的历史背景, 既从以前解释这些差异的理论的立场出发, 也从后来在某种程度上驳斥了为不平等提供“理由”的观点。

KEYWORDS:

• jobs
• minorities
• women
• retail
• sustainability

关键词:

• 工作
• 少数民族
• 女性
• 零售业
• 可持续性

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.