Turnover in Low-Skill, Low-Pay Industries

A small grocery store opened in my neighborhood a few months ago. We go in several times a week to pick up odds and ends and look for bargains on the high-quality meat they cut right in-house. It’s close, convenient and not busy or pretentious. Over time, I’ve gotten to know the general manager and part owner who is there a lot. When I teased him once about spending so much time in the store, he stopped and gave a look of a man with something ready to burst out of him, but trying to keep it bottled up.
I paused as if to let him know it was ok to share. He did. . .
It seems he was there a lot because he is having so much trouble keeping employees. He explained, “I hire them, train them, give them hours, but if they have something better to do, they just don’t show up.” I asked how that could be. . . how can people just go AWOL from their employment. He said I wouldn’t believe how common it is for his workers to just quit without notice and after only a few days or weeks on the job.
Since then, I’ve made it my mission to ask around and get perspectives of other employers of these types of workers and apparently, it is a rampant problem facing industries from manufacturing, retail, agriculture, hospitality, food service, and even healthcare. But, is there a solution?
So far, I’ve only seen the frustration and resignation to this trend. If a solution exists, it may be the next great discovery of our time.
I’m interested in real-world stories from employers who have experienced this dilemma. What are you doing about it? Have you found a reasonable solution? Are you thinking of changing the way you structure your business to adapt?
Please leave your comments below. If you don’t mind, I may reach out to you to learn more. Thanks!