Retail managers are one of the least happy careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, retail managers rate their career happiness 2.6 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 7% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy retail managers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant manager | 2.7 | $32k |
| Account manager | 2.7 | $67k |
| Compliance manager | 2.7 | $83k |
| Advertising sales agent | 2.7 | $33k |
| Credit counselor | 2.6 | $6k |
| Retail manager | 2.6 | $35k |
| Sales representative | 2.5 | $41k |
| Car salesperson | 2.4 | $60k |
| Customer service representative | 2.3 | $18k |
| Retail salesperson | 2.3 | $6k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are retail managers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do retail managers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as retail managers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are retail manager’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are retail managers making the best use of their abilities?
Are retail managers happy with their salary?
Retail managers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.6/5. Retail managers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked retail managers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
2.6 out of 5 stars
5828 retail managers
7% of retail managers rated their compensation 5 stars
18% of retail managers rated their compensation 4 stars
25% of retail managers rated their compensation 3 stars
26% of retail managers rated their compensation 2 stars
24% of retail managers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do retail managers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, retail managers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.2/5. The majority of retail managers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked retail managers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.2 out of 5 stars
5828 retail managers
5% of retail managers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
9% of retail managers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
20% of retail managers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
29% of retail managers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
37% of retail managers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as retail managers?
Retail managers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.8/5. The majority of retail managers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked retail managers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.8 out of 5 stars
6102 retail managers
30% of retail managers rated their career fit 5 stars
36% of retail managers rated their career fit 4 stars
21% of retail managers rated their career fit 3 stars
9% of retail managers rated their career fit 2 stars
5% of retail managers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a retail manager’s work environment?
As a whole, retail managers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.1/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked retail managers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
6097 retail managers
14% of retail managers rated their work environment 5 stars
27% of retail managers rated their work environment 4 stars
28% of retail managers rated their work environment 3 stars
20% of retail managers rated their work environment 2 stars
11% of retail managers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are retail managers making the best use of their abilities?
Former retail managers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.7/5. Retail managers tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked retail managers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.7 out of 5 stars
6107 retail managers
9% of retail managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
17% of retail managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
25% of retail managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
27% of retail managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
21% of retail managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars