According to a new survey from Jobcase, the majority of retail workers say that treatment from customers gets worse around the holidays.
The survey used input from 2,000 retail workers, 59% of whom say that customers’ behaviour becomes significantly worse during the holiday shopping season making it far more stressful. Another 40% of workers said they were afraid their employers wouldn’t have enough employees to handle the busy retail season while 43% said their employers haven’t properly prepared for increased workloads.
But if you think working in retail is bad, try working in the restaurant business...
According to another survey by Lightspeed, 62% of restaurant workers said customers are far more demanding during the holiday season— so much so— a majority of restaurant workers reported emotional and sometimes physical abuse from clients. In fact, the number of workers that have reported attacks and aggressive customers in restaurants, big box stores, on flights has dramatically increased since the start of the pandemic and shows no signs of slowing down.
This treatment is bolstered by the “the customer is always right” mantra that gives customers license to treat workers poorly, Avery Hartmans reported for Insider.
Next time you are out shopping or dining at a restaurant, please be kind to the employees even if you are not satisfied with the service. Remember, you never know what someone else is going through and maybe they are also having a bad day.
