Career
First-line supervisors of retail sales workers
Lead the team on a store's sales floor.
$48,520
Median pay
-3.7%
Job growth, 2025–35
113,500
Openings a year
High school diploma or equivalent
Typical education
None required
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Provide customer service by greeting and assisting customers and responding to customer inquiries and complaints.
- Direct and supervise employees engaged in sales, inventory-taking, reconciling cash receipts, or in performing services for customers.
- Examine merchandise to ensure that it is correctly priced and displayed and that it functions as advertised.
- Monitor sales activities to ensure that customers receive satisfactory service and quality goods.
- Instruct staff on how to handle difficult and complicated sales.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on persuasion & leadership, then information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Provide customer service by greeting and assisting customers and responding to customer inquiries and complaints.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Active Listening, Service Orientation, Speaking, Coordination.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
No degree beyond high school, though on-the-job training is typical, for a median of $48,520 a year and 113,500 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Business AdministrationSee the degree →
- Floriculture/Floristry Operations and ManagementCIP 01.0608
- Consumer Merchandising/Retailing ManagementCIP 19.0203
- E-Commerce/Electronic CommerceCIP 52.0208
- Retail ManagementCIP 52.0212
- Retailing and Retail OperationsCIP 52.1803
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers$87,520 · +0.5%
- First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers$69,500 · +0.1%
- First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers$44,080 · +5.4%
- First-Line Supervisors of Entertainment and Recreation Workers, Except Gambling Services$48,560 · +5.3%
- First-Line Supervisors of Housekeeping and Janitorial Workers$49,100 · +3.2%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.