The number of jobs in the UK retail sector is declining, according to the latest ONS jobs figures.

Data from the statistics institute shows that there are currently 2.9 million jobs in retail, down 83,000 year-on-year.

“Retail jobs numbers fell this quarter as the tightest labour market in decades intensified competition for talent,” said Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC). “This is doubly true as the hospitality and tourism industries recover from the pandemic. Nonetheless, the expansion of digital retail has created many new well-paid and exciting jobs in the industry, which will continue to grow in the future.”

Dickinson said that reforming the Apprenticeship Levy is the only way retailers can develop the future skills needed for the industry.

The news follows the publication of research which shows that since 2017 the UK sector has lost almost 650,000 jobs.

Figures from the Centre for Retail Research reveal that there were more than 105,000 job losses last year alone.

Share Story: