Retail workers are quitting at record rates for higher-paying work: ‘My life isn’t worth a dead-end job’

Noles said she began mulling a career change after five colleagues tested positive for the coronavirus late last year. Her lucky break, she said, came on a particularly busy night when the checkout lines snaked to the back of the store. A customer in line, who was charmed by her upbeat nature and impressed that not a single customer left despite the wait, encouraged her to apply for an opening at her law firm. Noles applied in April and, a few weeks later, was offered the job as an intake specialist, earning $13 an hour, plus benefits.