Better relationships between retail managers and their teams have helped to halt a 12-month decline in retail worker wellbeing according to new research, even as frontline staff remain unhappier and more likely to quit and work while unwell than their head office colleagues.
The latest Retail People Index, from the charity Retail Trust and global consulting firm AlixPartners, shows overall wellbeing scores rose to 62 out of 100 between January and March this year. This up from 57 at the end of 2025, when wellbeing had continued to deteriorate.
This improvement coincided with stronger relationships between managers and staff, which reached their highest level in 18 months during the first three months of the year.
The index calculates retail worker wellbeing scores out of a possible 100, with anything below 60 indicating that people are struggling with their mental health. The report also measures the likelihood of staff quitting or working while unwell to show the impact of happiness levels on businesses.
There was a 9% fall in the number of retail employees likely to leave their jobs and an 11% drop in those going into work while unwell during the first three months of 2026.
However, store and distribution centre workers reported the industry’s highest ‘flight risk’ and presenteeism scores. Nearly half (49%) of distribution workers and 47% of store workers are still a ‘flight risk’ compared to 36% of head office staff. 40% of distribution and store employees also went into work despite feeling physically or mentally unwell between January and March 2026 in comparison to 30% of their head office colleagues.
Chris Brook-Carter, chief executive of the retail industry charity, the Retail Trust, says: “Retail workers are still battling job insecurity, high living costs and too many incidents of crime and abuse, and this is impacting those working on the frontline of retail the most, but the help they are receiving from their employers appears to have improved this year.
“This rise in overall wellbeing and relationships between managers and staff is testament to a renewed investment in leaders and the impact this can have on everyone’s ability to turn up to work feeling happier, healthier and more productive. Retail employers must now build on this great work by ensuring those in stores and distribution centres get even more targeted support to turn around still worryingly low levels of wellbeing.”
The Retail People Index is created by measuring responses to the Retail Trust’s online happiness health check, delivered with employee engagement platform WorkL.
More than 1,300 staff were asked about their mental and physical health and how valued and fulfilled they feel at work to create an overall wellbeing score. Questions around pay, recognition, relationships with managers, work-related anxiety and workplace safety were among those used to separately help calculate the likelihood of them leaving their jobs or working while unwell.
Laura Bond, a director at AlixPartners, adds: "It is encouraging to see that retailer investment in employee wellbeing is starting to pay off. There is, however, still some way to go, as evidenced by the persistent gap between frontline and head office wellbeing scores. Workplace wellbeing is often framed solely as a people issue, yet the data in this report continues to highlight clear risks to overall business performance. Organisations that recognise and act on this will hold a distinct advantage.”
The Retail Trust works with more than 200 retailers to help improve the mental health of their staff and began partnerships with Currys, Poundland and Merseyside Police this year to bring new wellbeing support to thousands more retail workers across the country. It has also extended our partnership with bp for another five years.
