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Home Depot (HD-0.16%) wants its corporate employees to gain insight into the daily challenges faced by its in-store associates.
The company plans to mandate that employees work eight-hour retail shifts at one of its stores every three months, Bloomberg reported, citing a company memo.
Home Depot has a long tradition of having employees spend time in stores, and this program is just an extension of that, a company representative told Quartz in an email. All employees, including senior management and those working remotely, are expected to start taking on a full shift on-site at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
“It’s critical that we all spend time in the aisles engaging directly with customers and understanding the unique opportunities and challenges that our frontline associates face every day,” the company spokesperson said.
While Home Depot claims this move is aimed at supporting retail workers, it may be one way to address concerns about alleged unfair labor practices and compensation. In October 2022, for example, Home Depot Workers United filed a lawsuit alleging unlawful surveillance and worker interrogation in Philadelphia.
Working in retail has always been challenging, partly due to inconsistent schedules, low wages, and demanding tasks. Recently, problems such as theft and difficult customers have made the jobs even tougher. Such has been the case for Target (TGT+0.34%), who said it plans to continue keeping some essentials, such as deodorant, locked away.
These recent issues have it made difficult to retain employees, prompting retailers such as Amazon (AMZN-0.79%) and Walmart-owned Sam’s Club (WMT+0.85%) to increase wages and offer better benefits.
Home Depot’s latest move comes shortly after its second-quarter earnings report revealed that consumers spent less on home improvement this summer. With this decline in spending, the company expects sales to continue to drop in the coming months.