In 2024, staffing issues and inflation both remain top challenges at convenience stores.
As retailers look to better recruitment, hiring and retention practices, they’re continuing to raise starting wages and improve benefits to best appeal to employees who are feeling squeezed by the rising cost of living.
For the 16th consecutive year, CStore Decisions and Humetrics collaborated on the Human Resources (HR) Benchmarking Survey, polling convenience store retailers from Jan. 4 to March 1 on HR practices, including recruiting, hiring, retention and economic outlook.
This year’s comprehensive 44-question survey was designed to compare, predict and estimate the most common HR issues the c-store industry is facing and how the industry is addressing those issues. Echoing the adage “the more things change, the more they stay the same,” the survey once again pinpointed staffing and inflation as the top concerns.
As the c-store sector continues to navigate through the complexities of a post-pandemic world, the survey’s insights reflect the persistent challenges of staffing and inflation and underscore the industry’s resilience and adaptability in addressing these issues head-on.
The HR survey encompassed a broad cross-section of roles, organizational sizes and operational scales. The responses were collected from corporate HR professionals (32%); general, regional or operations managers (25%); store managers and assistant store managers (21%); and owners (11%), with an additional 11% comprising various other corporate roles.
The HR survey showcased a wide range of organizational sizes, with 25% representing convenience store chains with annual revenues over $500 million, 17% from those with $50–$500 million, and a majority (54%) from companies earning between $1 million and $50 million. The survey also covered employee populations, with 32% of participating companies employing more than 500 people and a significant number (47%) housing a workforce of one to 100 employees, offering a comprehensive view of the convenience store industry’s HR practices and challenges across different scales of operation.
The survey began with the question, “How was your overall business in 2023?” with results indicating a tempered optimism. The data showed that 46% of respondents feel their business performed better than expected, while 29% reported performance as anticipated. However, a notable 18% reported “worse than expected,” which signals the ongoing economic pressures and operational challenges.
Download the free PDF to view the full survey.
