Skilled Workforce Shortage in the Beauty Business Industry

“I need a professional stylist, but cannot find someone reliable”, or “One of our senior stylists just quit!” You must have listened to such staff shortage stories at least once when you walk into a beauty parlor these days. Yes, that’s the pain point of most private salons and parlor setups of independent stylists. If you are a beauty or spa parlor owner or manager in the USA, you might have also faced a similar paradigm shift associated with skilled workforce shortages.

On the other hand, the demand for trendy hairstyles, glowing skin, threading, nail art, hair or body spa, or other cosmetic treatments is increasing continuously. A few years back, we saw beauty parlors as one of the bustling workplaces filled with energetic vibes and creativity. However, today, we are experiencing a worrying silence in parlors, owing to the shortages of trained and dedicated beauty professionals and stylists.

There is no denying the fact that staff shortage affects business growth and customer satisfaction.

What are the challenges that today’s salons are facing? What’s causing the talent shortage in an industry that once used to attract passionate and creative individuals? Let’s take a closer look at the things going on behind the curtain!

Understanding the Root Causes of Talent Shortage

1. Lack of Organized In-House Training Programs

Many beauty schools or institutions are struggling to keep up with the rising technological trends and digital advancements. Usually, these courses have certain gaps. They usually fail to include a real-time salon experience in their training modules.

Similarly, they don’t include coaching on how to integrate the latest tools and technologies in the real-time parlor setting. Today, big-brand salons are providing digital consultations to their clients to offer guidance on advanced skincare and makeover solutions based on unique skin types, skin concerns, and lifestyle preferences. Therefore, beauty training programs must train aspiring stylists on the benefits of implementing advanced skincare devices and digital consultations to help private salon owners deliver enhanced customer experiences.

2. Differences in Client Expectations & Skill Sets

Nowadays, clients look for much moe than a spa or haircut. They are looking for customizations and guidance on the best treatments.  

Today’s clients are also looking for more advanced solutions, including microneedling, chemical peels, laser treatments, and digital makeovers.

Most of these services require salons to implement advanced technologies and AI tools to ensure candidates can be future-ready. Unfortunately, due to the lack of such technology-based training, aspiring stylists and creative professionals are entering the workforce without specialized training to meet the growing and ever-changing client expectations.

3. Shift of Careers and Urban Gaps

Many beauty professionals are switching jobs and leaving the industry entirely due to limited career growth, employee burnout, or being unable to meet client expectations due to a lack of technology-based training. They are also getting better job opportunities in other industries and fields, such as eCommerce, sales, influencer marketing, and digital marketing.

As a result, many professionals are also migrating to urban belts for better opportunities and to gain better exposure to the job market. This has left many small-town salons struggling to deliver exceptional client experiences as they are unable to find qualified and reliable talent. The beauty industry is, therefore, witnessing high attrition rates, with parlors facing major talent shortages.

How Mobile App Development is Boosting the Growth of Beauty Businesses

Amidst talent shortages, there’s still a ray of hope! There has been a drastic rise in mobile app development across several industries, including the beauty sector. Beauty businesses are realizing the importance of building their own booking apps. A dedicated mobile app for beauty salon will help boost their operations and enable beauty parlor owners to scale their business by tracking client histories. Despite talent shortages, beauty and spa salon owners are able to provide positive experiences to clients through advanced digital solutions.

The Next Steps

The skill gap is a concerning aspect, and you should not take it lightly. It’s time to make better strategies to retain talent. At the same time, focus on your app-building procedures to simplify the booking process through a simple form fill-up, and to address the unique queries and concerns of your clients through a 24/7 live chatbot tool. You can also implement technologies like AR-powered virtual try-on features to help clients try different hairstyles, hair colors, and makeovers, to make a selection based on the look they desire.

Today’s salon mobile app development includes provisions for the following:

• Online training modules and tailored in-house coaching programs for talent development and staff retention
• Incentivizing staff retention by providing and tracking cash incentives, health benefits, and flexible work hours, and helping them scale their professional growth, all from one app
• Tracking and managing staff performance and inventory
• Offering customer self-service features, such as appointment booking, flexible time slot selection, service selection, stylist selection, secure and fast checkout procedures and payment gateways, multiple payment modes, etc.
• Integrations with eCommerce platforms for selling skincare, haircare, and nail art products online.

Therefore, it’s crucial to hire professional mobile app development services for salons that specialize in the beauty industry. An app will help salon owners cope with staff limitations and build an additional revenue stream.

Rediscover Your Salon Experience with Elite mCommerce

Elite mCommerce is a professional salon E-commerce app development service that has a dedicated team that handles diverse app development operations, from app store optimization to boosting mobile customer engagement. Our specialized and sophisticated Beauty Salon App offers unique client experiences in real-time with its user-friendly interface, easy appointment booking and tracking features, a dedicated Shopping feature, and more.

The Takeaway

Beauty parlor owners must focus on a complete digital transformation through beauty salon mobile app development to scale their business online. Being a passionate stylist and independent studio or home-based parlor owner or manager, build robust strategies to boost employee well-being and provide effective in-house training modules to bridge the gap between growing customer demand and staff shortages due to a lack of the required skill sets. Only a thorough digital and educational transformation can save the beauty industry and help it thrive in the upcoming years.