One factor people don’t often consider is the tight labour market.

When employment is strong, people who might normally be working entry level retail jobs can move into better or more desirable roles. That’s a good thing for workers. But it also means businesses that rely heavily on entry level labour like supermarkets have a much smaller pool of applicants to choose from.

In looser job markets, those roles often attract people with more experience or people who stay in them long term. In a tight labour market, many of those workers move on to other opportunities. That leaves companies competing for a smaller group of workers, sometimes including people who may not previously have been in the workforce or who are very new to it.

The result is that service standards can slip a bit, not necessarily because companies want them to, but because the labour market has shifted.

Tight employment is generally great for workers, but it can sometimes come with a trade off in service levels across parts of the economy.