One in five – 21 per cent – of UK retail workers have plans to quit the industry, according to research from The Retail Trust.

The study, which surveyed over 1,500 retail staff, found that nearly a third – 31 per cent – of people working at the UK’s biggest retailers are planning to leave the industry.

The report found that most people were leaving due to concerns around money, rising levels of abuse from customers, and poor mental health post-pandemic.

83 per cent said they have experienced a decline in their mental health in the last year, with retail workers aged between aged 16 and 29, those working in distribution and warehouses, and employees of larger retailers struggling the most.
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85 per cent of retail managers also reported an increase in mental health problems among their teams, while over half said team members have experienced issues that they felt ill-equipped to deal with.

More than a quarter – 26 per cent – of retail managers say they also want to leave the industry.

“People working in retail have moved from one period of turmoil to another,” said Chris Brook-Carter, chief executive of the Retail Trust. “ They are exhausted after two years of a global pandemic and now facing a world dominated by a brutal war while coming to terms with a cost of living crisis, with inflation at a 40-year-high, that threatens to put our standards of living back decades.”

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