Are retail employers beefing up their safety measures?
Nearly one-fifth of retail employees in the United States have thought about leaving their jobs amid concerns for personal safety, according to a new report.
The report, released by the Loss Prevention Research Council and Verkada, revealed that 19% of employees have considered resigning due to safety concerns.
And 40% said they are likely to leave their job in the next 12 months due to these worries.
Among the most pressing threats they have in mind is aggressive behaviour or threats from customers, as cited by 51% of the respondents. This is just behind theft with 68%.
Source: The State of Retail Safety
These concerns come as more than half of the respondents reported experiencing or witnessing theft (60%), aggressive behaviour or threats from customers (54%), and verbal harassment (51%).
In fact, the report found that 67% of the respondents said they have considered changing their job after an incident of physical violence.
Beefing up safety at work
Despite these concerns, 62% of the respondents said their organisation has not changed their level of security measures in the last 12 months, while 22% said that their workplace has minimal to no security.
"It's unclear if retailers are actually not changing their security posture, or if they're not effectively communicating those changes to their frontline employees," the report read.
According to the respondents, better security measures in place would have prevented many unfortunate incidents, such as theft (77%), robbery (76%), and even an active shooter scenario (74%).
Alana O'Grady Lauk, Vice President of Public Affairs at Verkada, reminded employers that they have the responsibility to protect their retail staff.
Nearly half of the respondents said they want video security monitoring (48%), on-site security guards (47%), and alarm systems (45%) in the workplace to give them peace of mind.
Source: The State of Retail Safety
"This study underscores the importance of not only investing in security infrastructure but also creating a culture where retail workers feel valued, protected, and heard," Lauk said in a statement.
