Retail sector loses 225,000 jobs in five years

It is no secret that the retail sector has faced significant challenges in recent years, the impact of which has been reflected in new job figures issued by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

According to the organisation’s data, there were 2.81 million jobs in retail in September 2024, yet on a four-quarter average, this was 40,000 fewer jobs than last year. This becomes more concerning when compared to figures five years ago, with 225,000 fewer retail jobs being recorded in contrast.

From the perspective of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), however, these figures are not entirely representative of the retail industry as a whole. The council’s chief executive, Helen Dickinson, explained that the sector, which is still the largest private sector employer in the UK, is undergoing a transformation in the form of automation investments, a shift to outsourcing for warehouses and higher productivity, which she noted were “not all captured by the ONS retail figures”.

Dickinson further outlined a significant increase in the cost of hiring, triggered by a pay growth that was “well above the national average at 8.5 percent in 2024, and up over 25 percent since 2021”. She added that increases to the National Living Wage and National Insurance will cost the industry over five billion pounds, and thus “hasten the reduction in retail jobs”.

Dickinson’s statement continued: “Retailers are responding to the changing business landscape, with most saying they will further increase investment in automation and improve worker productivity. It is inevitable the budget will also put pressure on jobs and hours in the coming year, potentially affecting communities all over the UK that rely on retail as a vital provider of entry level, local jobs.”