Tackling Labor Challenges Takes a Proactive Approach
CHICAGO — It's no secret that labor remains a pain point for retailers across the convenience channel.
As noted in the 2025 Convenience Store News Industry Report, labor — including wages, payroll taxes, workers compensation, health insurance and other benefits — accounted for the largest share of operating expenses at $638,286 per store, up 4.7% vs. the previous year.
In addition to costs, turnover continues to plague the channel, though things appear to be easing. The 2024 turnover rate for store associates was 146%, down from 158% in 2023 and 163% in 2022. The turnover rate for store managers stands at 92%, the exclusive research found.
That being said, more needs to be done to overcome the c-store labor hurdle, especially among the industry's smaller players.
"Today's labor challenge is one that everyone is facing in all sorts of retail and it really breaks down into three components. The first one is finding the potential employees to work in your store. Then once you find them, we've got to hire them and actually get them to sign. And finally, probably more important than anything else, is how do we keep those employees? The retention part of it," said Roy Strasburger, CEO of StrasGlobal, a privately held retail consulting, operations and management provider serving the small-format retail industry.
Speaking during the session, "Improving Labor Recruitment & Retention," at the 2025 Convenience Store News Outstanding Independents Summit, Strasburger explained that in a tight labor market, c-store retailers need to convince people to come work for them when they may already be employed.
When counting out people who don't want to work, those who are working but won't work in convenience retail and people who are not interested in working in retail, the possible employee pool shrinks to about 23%, he said, citing data from The Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council (CCRRC). And of that 23%, only 8% have experience working in a convenience store.
What keeps people from working in the convenience channel? The CCRRC found that the biggest issues are:
- Safety
- Long and inflexible hours
- Low pay and benefits
"A lot of these perceptions are based in some truth and some reality of what the business is, but it really is a question of how you're presenting your business to potential employees to get them to work," he noted.
Once operators overcome the perception issues, they must promote their message to the right candidates. "What's really important is that you have to tell your story. You need to be proactive in letting people know what you want to do and what you have to offer," Strasburger said.
Reaching the Right Candidates
In this day of fragmented media and varied social media options, targeting the right potential employees should start with advertising at the store — a move that reaches people who live in the area and are familiar with the business. Additionally, they "may already have some type of emotional attachment to the store and can become very likely candidates for working at your store," he pointed out.
Operators can also get referrals from existing employees and friends, and utilize online platforms. "And the final one, which I think is actually very effective, is poaching employees from other [retailers]," Strasburger said.
"What you need to do is be proactive and tell your story. When somebody is interested in working for you, to overcome the concern about it being dangerous, talk about safety, talk about what you're doing to protect employees and to make your store a safe working environment. And if you are not already doing these things, you need to put these things into place so that your customers and, more importantly, your employees will feel safe," he explained.
Having the Right Conversation
Acknowledging that compensation is "a tricky issue," Strasburger pointed out that retailers need to make sure their wages are in line with what their competition is offering. "And minimum wage doesn't really cut it anymore," he said. "What we have been finding is that we need to be offering $2 to $3 above minimum wage to get people interested in hiring because the market is so tight."
Compensation goes beyond wages, too. According to Strasburger, c-store operators are not in the top in terms of widest benefit programs, but retailers should promote the benefits they offer. "Let people know what you have and that they have something they can rely on as part of their compensation today," he said.
Retailers should also discuss their mission statement, especially with younger potential employees. "A lot of the new people who are entering the workforce, especially the Gen Zers, are looking for work that coincides with a mission and what they want to accomplish," he advised. "It's important that you articulate what you want to accomplish with your store in the wider scope of being part of the community and away from just a profit and loss statement."
Another part of the conversation should be future opportunities — for example, moving from part time to full time, from evening shift to day shift, or from assistant manager to manager. "Whatever you have, you need to talk about what the opportunity is. People need to know that they can advance if they want to and that they're not stuck in a dead-end position, and that it provides scheduling flexibility," he said. "One of the main things that Gen X, Gen Zs and millennials are looking for is flexibility and scheduling so that they can take care of emergency events and be able to take care of their family if they need to do so."
Implementing the Right Retention Strategy
Finding and hiring the right employees are important pieces of the labor puzzle, and so is retention.
As part of its research, the CCRRC studies why people leave their jobs and it boils down to money, a negative work environment, safety issues, long hours and shifts, poor benefits and a feeling they are not getting enough from their jobs.
To become an employer of choice, Strasburger said retailers have to be proactive in meeting employees' concerns, try to make sure they're happy, make sure they want to stay, and make sure they feel part of the team.
He also shared another retention tip: have a good store manager. "They know how to handle people, they're empathetic, they are good trainers. They help develop people, they understand the business, so they understand the profit and loss and the dollars and cents of what's going on," he explained.
The second key piece for keeping employees is training. The better that someone understands their job, the longer they will stay in that position, according to Strasburger, who added that knowing what they need to do and having the confidence to make a decision adds greatly to job satisfaction.
A replay of "Improving Labor Recruitment & Retention," as well as other sessions from the 2025 Convenience Store News Outstanding Independents Summit, are available here.
About the Author
