Nearly 10% of Taiwan convenience stores no longer operate 24 hours as labour shortage bites
The Association of Chain and Franchise Promotion, Taiwan reported that 9.5% of convenience stores nationwide did not operate around the clock in 2022, with the share expected to rise this year due to labour shortages and a low birthrate. Operators including 7-Eleven and FamilyMart have adjusted hour
Nearly 10 per cent of convenience stores nationwide were not operating around the clock in 2022, and the figure is projected to rise this year, the Association of Chain and Franchise Promotion, Taiwan said yesterday. The four major operators — 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Hi-Life and OK Mart — ran 12,630 stores in 2022, of which 1,203 stores, or 9.5 per cent, did not operate at all hours, association data showed.
The percentage would increase this year due to a shortage of labour and the low birthrate over the past four years, the association said. “No one wants to work graveyard shifts,” a former convenience store franchisee said on condition of anonymity. Stores running short of graveyard shift workers must have a store manager cover the shifts, they said.
The Ministry of Labor has increased the minimum wage for 10 consecutive years, from NT$120 per hour in 2016 to NT$196 per hour this year, or up 63.3 per cent over the decade. Personnel expenses make up more than 70 per cent of a convenience store’s total operating costs, the former franchisee said. Wages for graveyard shifts are 20 per cent higher than day or swing shifts, but that is still insufficient to maintain sufficient workforce, they said.
Huang Yen-tsung (黃延聰), a professor of business administration at Tunghai University, said that graveyard shifts at convenience stores might run at a loss — if the store is not in an area with sufficient foot traffic at night — requiring managers to offset the deficit with daytime income. An eight-hour graveyard shift still generates operational costs from utility and personnel expenses, Huang said. Moreover, the low birthrate has created a new mindset among young people, he said. They are not as motivated to take on night shifts to earn more money as people were 20 years ago, he added, noting that freelance work offers greater freedom.
Association deputy secretary-general Ku Shang-chun (顧上鈞) said many convenience stores are trialling personnel-less operations for graveyard-shift hours or refraining from opening all night. President Chain Store Corp (PCSC), which runs more than 7,340 7-Eleven stores nationwide, has cancelled around-the-clock operations at some stores since 2015, but it did not provide specific data. Some 7-Eleven stores in closed commercial areas, such as industrial office buildings, department stores or hospitals, have adjusted their hours as required by the property owners, the firm said. Its smart vending machines have been introduced near those places to meet consumers’ needs around the clock, it added.
Regarding the shortage of workers willing to work overnight, PCSC said it is continuing to develop its middle-aged and elderly workforce, adding that its employees aged 45 or older account for up to 32 per cent of its total workforce. Taiwan FamilyMart Co said FamilyMart stores focus on around-the-clock operations, but some stores’ hours have been adjusted according to actual consumer demand and shopping area characteristics, especially those in industrial zones or office buildings, where demand is low late at night, it said.
