Dramatic drop in UK retail employment

In the final three months of 2018, the number of employees in the retail sector fell 2.2 per cent year-on-year, while total hours worked fell by 2.8 per cent, said the BRC.

“Frontline staff” in shops will fall further in the next decade, it said.

But new jobs in areas including digital marketing would be created, it added.

Bricks-and-mortar retailers have been hard hit by the downturn on the nation’s High Streets.

Online giants such as Amazon have had a huge impact, as more consumers see online shopping as cheaper and easier than going to the shops.

Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive, British Retail Consortium, said: “The retail industry is undergoing a profound change and the latest employment data underpins those trends. Technology is changing both the way consumers shop, but also the types of jobs that exist in retail. While we expect the number of frontline staff to fall over the next decade, there will many new jobs created in areas such as digital marketing and AI.

“However, this transformation comes at a cost for retailers, who are already weighed down by the increasing costs of public policy, from sky high business rates to rising minimum wage. To support this investment in the future of retail, Government needs to play its part, reforming the broken business rates system to ensure it is fit for the 21^st century.”