You could argue that mutual understanding between employees and customers is now more important than ever. According to a new survey from Zipline, pandemic stresses continue to take a toll on American retail workers, with 48% of them saying they've considered quitting their job in the past year, and 64% saying they're seeing more aggression from customers.

The survey of 512 full-time, in-store retail associates, fielded in November and December 2021, also discovered that the share of retail workers eyeing the exit door has grown: in Zipline's previous workers' survey, conducted last spring, around 41% of respondents said they had thought about leaving their job.

Among those who told Zipline this time around that they had thought about quitting, more than half said they were considering leaving the industry altogether. 

Greater confidence in their job prospects is probably a big reason for some of those plans: 4.5% of retail workers quit their job in December—up from 3.1% who quit in December 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary (JOLTS) report.

And it shows. Retailers had more than 1 million job openings at the end of 2021 but hired just 861,000 workers in December, and that demand for labor has pushed up wages, with leading companies such as Walmart, Amazon, and SpartanNash saying in their latest earnings calls that rising labor costs have pressured margins.

So it's a good time for everyone in the market looking for a job change. But for retailers themselves, results of Zipline's survey point to potential risks that might warrant revisiting their workforce retention efforts. 

Zipline's latest findings also reveal that:

• 40% of full-time retail associates reported worsening mental health in the past year;
• 48% said they had experienced or witnessed a verbally abusive customer;
• 48% said they feel they have management's full support if and when a customer becomes verbally abusive;
• Of the 32% of full-time retail workers who say they have an additional source of income, 43% say they have a nonretail job, and 11% said they have another job in retail—creating demands on time that may keep some interested employees from taking advantage of continuing-education or career-development opportunities that their primary retail employer offers.

"If there is one main takeaway from our survey it is this: mental health is declining as burnout increases at a rate we've never seen," Zipline said in a blog post. "It's a problem that, left unchecked, shows no signs of abating ... More disturbing still, more than half of all retail associates surveyed said that their mental health was either not a concern to their manager or that their manager was harmful to their mental well-being."

No wonder so many of the respondents are serious about quitting their job. They feel abandoned.

To fix the grim situation on the floor of retail stores across the United States, Zipline said managers should:

1. Be proactive about creating mental health infrastructure: sixty percent of the associates surveyed reported that their employer either didn’t have a mental health program in place or they weren’t aware if such a program existed;

2. Offer paid mental health days (at least): More than half of retail associates said the service they want most from their employer was paid mental health days with counseling and therapy coming in second place (18%) and paid gym memberships right behind (17%);

3. Increase pay: increasing an employee’s pay can lessen or eliminate the pressure to take on a second job. This not only increases employees’ dedication to their company, it also gives them more time to relax and take care of themselves, which translates into improved mental well-being;

4. Demonstrate support for employees: the survey found that 64% of retail employees had noticed an uptick in verbally aggressive or confrontational customers during the pandemic, but fewer than half of the respondents felt they had their manager’s support during these interactions;

5. Acknowledge contributions: fewer than half of the survey respondents felt that their managers frequently acknowledged their hard work. Managers should make a point to show appreciation for their employees’ contributions to the team to build morale and boost job satisfaction.

Of course, there's no quick fix. But if these strategies were implemented, chances are, the employees wouldn't have to rely on customers to enjoy their work!