Retail job losses decline but store growth stalls

In the fourth quarter of 2019, the total number of retail employees in the UK fell by 1.8% year on year, a lower rate of decline compared with the 2.8% fall during the same period in 2018, according to the BRC Retail Employment Monitor.

It was the 16th consecutive quarter of year-on-year decline and equates to 57,000 job losses between the fourth quarters of 2018 and 2019, if applied to the Office for National Statistics’ retail employment figures.

Store growth for the period was at its lowest since the fourth quarter of 2016, inching up just 0.2%, well below the 2018 comparable of 2.3%.

Overall full-time retail employment fell 3%, while part-time employment slipped 1.2%.

The BRC also flagged that the golden quarter is the part of the year where retailers traditionally scale up their seasonal workforce and said many would now look to scale back in the coming quarter.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “Following figures showing 2019 was the worst year on record for retail sales growth, it comes as no surprise that retail shed the equivalent of 57,000 jobs compared to Q4 last year.

“There were many challenges in 2019: businesses had to contend with the repeated risk of no-deal Brexit, a general election and the ongoing transformation of the industry, leading to weak consumer demand. As a result, employment has suffered in retail, the UK’s largest private-sector employer.

“This matters – retail offers many people their first job, a range of flexible working options and huge opportunities for progression. Retailers may be investing heavily in their workers, through training and apprenticeships, but more could be done. The current inflexibility in the apprenticeship levy system means that much essential training is not covered, limiting the opportunities for many working in the industry.

“Moreover, it is worrying that the government is standing by while tens of thousands of jobs are being lost. If the same was true in manufacturing or aviation, one can be sure that the government would act. There are opportunities for action and the government’s review of business rates could not come at a more crucial time. It is essential that they reform this broken system and rectify a tax that sees retail, which accounts for 5% of the economy, pay 25% of the burden.”