Number of retail workers falls as industry restructures

The number of full-time employees in the retail sector has fallen by 3.3% as technology transforms the way we shop and employment costs rise.

According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) the equivalent number of full time employees (FTE) fell by 3.3% in the second quarter of 2017 compared to the same period a year ago.

Some 69% of respondents to its Retail Employment Monitor Q2 2017 reported a reduction in working hours while 15% said they were considering reducing hours in the coming quarter.

"The second quarter of 2017 saw employment in retail fall as the tide of change continues to sweep through the industry. Technology, which is both transforming the way we shop and providing increasing opportunities for automation in retail, combined with a difficult market environment and policies that have increased the cost of employing people, such as the National Living Wage and the Apprenticeship Levy, are driving the industry towards fewer but more productive jobs," explained BRC CEO Helen Dickinson.

Dickinson added that the squeeze on consumer spending would only serve to apply more pressure to retailers in the coming months and that while some retailers were expanding and growing their workforces, they were "in the minority".

"Sixty-nine per cent of respondents to our survey saw employees work fewer hours in Q2 this year, compared to last, with reductions particularly acute amongst non-food retailers," she said. "With consumers seeing inflation squeezing their spending power, the challenges facing retailers will only increase in coming months; reinforcing the pressure on retailers to rethink and restructure their workforce.”