Kronos Retail Labor Index™ Shows Holiday Hiring Lagging Behind Last Year
CHELMSFORD, Mass., Nov. 8, 2010 — Kronos® Incorporated today announced the November release of the Kronos Retail Labor Index™, a family of metrics and indices that analyze the relationship between the demand and supply sides of the labor market within the U.S. retail sector, and provide a distinct and early indicator of the overall state of the economy. The November report includes data for October 2010. The report is available on the Kronos Retail Labor Index website.
News Facts
- The Kronos Retail Labor Index: (This metric is defined as the percentage of job applications that result in a hiring, normalized within a scale of 0 to 100. A level of 3.00 percent means that for every 100 applications received, three hirings occurred). The Kronos Retail Labor Index decreased again this month to 3 percent, down 16 percent from the September 2010 level of 3.6 percent.
- Retail Hiring Level: The retailers representing 27,034 distributed locations across the U.S. that make up the Kronos data sample recorded 31,569 hirings (on a seasonally adjusted basis) in October 2010 a decrease of 16.7 percent from the September 2010 seasonally adjusted figure of 37,900 and a 34 percent decrease from the 47,906 hirings that occurred in October 2009.
- Retail Applications Level: The supply of applications was down just slightly from 1,059,617 in September to 1,052,765 in October. This number is down significantly from October 2009 when 1,443,725 applications were processed.
- Retail Employee Retention Rate: Employee retention decreased slightly in October 2010 as compared with September 2010. The percentage of employees remaining on the job 60 days or more was 82.7 percent, a decrease of 1.8 percent from September 2010.
Supporting Quotes
- Dr. Robert Yerex, chief economist, Kronos
"This month's Index indicates that retailers are not anticipating that they will need as many workers as last year to staff the holiday season. According to our numbers, holiday hiring appears to be on a trajectory that will bring it in at a level 19.3 percent below last year's and 44.5 percent below the peak holiday season hiring year of 2006. The early figures on holiday hiring translate to a 13.4 percent reduction in retailers' expectations of holiday sales as compared to 2009."
Supporting Resources
- Organizations that use Kronos hiring solutions employ approximately 15 percent of the U.S. consumer retail labor market, providing Kronos with a unique set of data on employee job applications, hirings, and length of service.
- The Kronos Retail Labor Index is released on a monthly basis. Go to www.kronos.com/retail-labor-index to access: the full report; a schedule of upcoming Index release dates; the Index methodology; and downloadable graphics.
- Note to reporters: cite Index findings as "Kronos Retail Labor Index".
About the Kronos Retail Labor Index
The Kronos Retail Labor Index is a family of metrics and indices that analyze the relationship between the demand and the supply sides of the labor market within the U.S. retail sector. It is derived from a single, unified data set, allowing for statistically appropriate comparisons and time series-based trending analysis. Firms that use Kronos hiring solutions employ approximately 15 percent of the U.S. consumer retail labor market, providing Kronos with a unique set of data on employee job applications, hirings, and length of service. The Kronos Retail Labor Index provides a distinct and early indicator of the health of the retail sector.
About Kronos Incorporated
Kronos is the global leader in workforce management solutions that enable organizations to control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce productivity. Tens of thousands of organizations in 60 countries — including more than half of the Fortune 1000® — use Kronos time and attendance, scheduling, absence management, HR and payroll, hiring, and labor analytics applications. To learn how Kronos uniquely delivers complete automation and high-quality information in an easy-to-use solution, visit www.kronos.com.
© 2010 Kronos Incorporated.Kronos is a registered trademark and Kronos Retail Labor Index is a trademark of Kronos Incorporated or a related company. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Contact
Laura Souza
Kronos Incorporated
+1 978.947.9477
laura.souza@kronos.com