Department Stores' Hiring Practices and Older Workers' Job Prospects

Older adults are increasingly seeking employment as they near or enter retirement and many do so out of financial need. Media images portray retail as a welcoming environment for older workers and many seek employment there. Prior research demonstrates a link between retail job quality and firms’ brand images with high-end firms offering better jobs than low-end firms. Studies further show that many retail firms attempt to hire employees who both fit their brand images and live in the communities in which they are located. Given our youth-oriented culture and the concentration of high-end retailers in wealthier communities, it is unclear how older workers living in low-income communities are likely to fare in the retail labor market.

Research question: How is variation in Discount and High-End department stores brand images, hiring managers’ perceptions of older workers’ fit with firms’ brands, and older workers’ places of residence related to the quality of jobs older workers are likely to obtain in retail?

Method:  Data come from a case study of six department stores in the Chicago area. Chains were chosen for variation in brand image and were categorized as either Discount or High-End stores based upon the degree of personal service offered. Data sources include interviews with seven hiring managers (conducted March – May 2012), store observations, analyses of firms’ websites, and store administrative data. Data were coded using qualitative data analysis software and themes and patterns identified.

Results:  Jobs at Discount stores were of lower quality than those at High-End stores. High-End stores employed more full-time, benefits-eligible workers; offered higher average wages; and provided more opportunities for commission pay. 

Both types of firms primarily hired workers who lived in surrounding communities. Brand fit was an important hiring goal at High-End stores and occasionally this approach provided older workers with a job placement advantage. Discount chains hired primarily to reflect neighborhood composition rather than brand fit. Thus, older workers were no more likely to be hired than younger workers at Discount stores. Since jobs were of low-quality at these stores, no workers experienced an advantage in job placement. The factor most strongly related to older workers’ opportunities to obtain higher-quality jobs was their place of residence in relation to the location of the stores rather than brand fit. 

Implications: More older adults are working longer in order to earn an adequate living. In this study, High-End stores hired workers from the surrounding community and brand fit was a hiring priority at these stores. However, brand fit rarely conferred job placement advantages upon older workers. Discount stores also hired workers from the surrounding community and older workers were no more likely to obtain jobs than younger workers and experienced no job placement advantages. Older workers who lived in more-affluent neighborhoods had better employment opportunities than workers who could not afford to live in these locations. These findings offer insight to workforce development professionals seeking to forge the most advantageous job placement relationships with employers.