Retail job losses risk a ‘jobless generation’
According to the latest report by the ONS there were 2.86 million jobs in retail in December 2025. The four-quarter average, which smooths out the seasonal variations in hiring, was 2.81 million jobs for 2025, 68,000 fewer than in 2024, and 383,000 fewer than in 2015. This four-quarter average is the lowest on record.
Using the four-quarter average, there were 1.28 million full-time and 1.52 million part-time jobs. The number of full-time jobs was down 140,000 on a decade ago. Meanwhile, the number of part-time jobs is down 242,000 over the same period.
Commenting on these figures, Helen Dickinson, chief executive at the British Retail Consortium, said “People everywhere are struggling to find jobs, youth employment is falling faster still, and the UK faces the prospect of a jobless generation. The loss of almost 400,000 retail jobs over the past decade is the loss of hundreds of thousands of opportunities for young people to start earning for themselves, and for older people to return to the workforce.
“One in five people had their first job in retail, yet this vital step on the career ladder is cracking under the high costs of employment. In 2025 alone, the cost of employing a full-time entry-level worker rose by 10%, while part-time employment rose by over 13%. The Government clearly recognises the scale of the challenge, and we welcome the expansion of the Youth Guarantee to open up more opportunities for young people.
“Seventy per cent of young people say that flexibility is important at work, but this flexibility is now under threat from how the Employment Rights Act is implemented. Poorly designed changes to guaranteed hours could make it harder – not easier – for businesses to offer part‑time work, discouraging employers from creating the very roles young people, students, parents and carers all rely on. As government consults on the Act, the priority must be clear: protect workers and protect job creation. The goal should be to tackle bad practice without making recruitment more complex, risky or expensive – especially at a time when the country urgently needs more routes into work.”