Retail jobs shifting from sales to tech
The growth of e-commerce is having a dramatic effect on the types of jobs retail employees now occupy. Retail associates — that is, those holding sales-related roles — are in rapid decline while technical skills are being more sought after by merchants shifting their efforts from brick-and-mortar to cyber business opportunities, according to LinkedIn.
The number of people identifying as retail associates on their LinkedIn profiles has declined 41.4% from 2013 to 2017 — from 198,000 to 116,000, according to a study by LinkedIn. Software developer is the fastest growing job in retail, with engineering and information technology jobs growing from 7% to 9%, according to LinkedIn's research. In a list of the "most popular job titles in retail," software developer went from eighth in 2013 to third in 2017. Salesperson is still on top of the retail jobs list, but the number of LinkedIn profiles citing that kind of title has declined from 33% in 2013 to 29% in 2017. The No. 2 job is in logistics and operations, which represented 13% in the study in 2017.
