29 March 2024, 09:54
By Furniture News Jul 31, 2019

Falling retail employment likely to endure, says BRC

According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), Q2 2019 represented the 14th consecutive quarter of YoY decline in the retail workforce.

The total number of employees fell by -2.3% in Q2, with full-time employment seeing a higher reduction (-3.0%), compared to the decrease in part-time employees (-2.0%). Total hours fell by -2.5%, with full-time hours also seeing a higher reduction (-2.7%) than part-time hours (-2.3%). This represents a slight slowing in the employment decline, with the number of employees falling by -2.4% in Q1 and hours falling by -2.7%. 

Store growth slowed to +1.7%, compared to Q1 growth of +2.3%. Both food and non-food retailers added stores.

The BRC states that the sector is seeing the automation of some retail jobs and changing shopping behaviours, leading the store to increasingly serve a different role, centred more around customer experience and offering social activities, for which fewer staff members are needed. 

The consortium found that 30% of retailers indicated plans to increase staff in the coming quarter – above the comparable figure of 25% last year – and 65% seek to keep their staff numbers unchanged (up from 56% last year). Some retailers stated that as the peak trading period of the year (Black Friday and Christmas) approaches, they plan to increase their part-time workforce.

Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive of the BRC, says: “Retail is undergoing a period of profound transformation driven by changing consumer behaviours and innovative technologies. As these structural changes unfold, we have seen retail employment falling across the country, with a -2.3% drop as compared with the previous year – this is equivalent to around 72,000 jobs being lost. Such declines are likely to endure, hastened by Government policies that continue to add costs to an industry already under immense pressures.

“With a new PM and cabinet in place, there is a clear opportunity to rethink the high street strategy. Business rates pose an unsustainable burden on shops and jobs, and we urge the Government to provide immediate relief to retailers large and small in order to facilitate much-needed investment in the digital and physical offerings they provide to their customers.”

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