The Onboarding Experience of Today's Workforce Survey Report: Retail and Wholesale Industry

A number of trends have employers questioning whether the onboarding they offer meets business and employee needs today.

• Demand for onboarding is on the rise. Shorter employee tenures and stiff competition for critical talent have employers putting an increasing number of workers through the onboarding process each year.
• Onboarding participants have changed. Increasingly, employers are onboarding younger generations and workers with fully remote or hybrid arrangements.
• The timeline for onboarding is shortening. Lean workforces and cumbersome recruiting processes are giving urgency to reducing time to productivity.

More and more employers are asking:

  What does it take to successfully onboard workers today?

To help answer this question, APQC surveyed employees who had been working in their current role for two years or less about their onboarding. In early 2025, employees from a variety of countries, working in organizations of various sizes, responded to the survey. Questions focused on onboarding approaches, timelines, types of learning, and delivery methods. Employees were also asked about the effectiveness and quality of their onboarding experience.

This report summarizes and provides insights on the retail and wholesale industry findings. Organizations can use this information to benchmark and identify areas for improvement.