Retail jobs tank as employment costs soar
According to the latest ONS figures, there were 2.75 million retail jobs in June 2026. Using the four-quarter average which smooths out the seasonal variations in hiring, there was 2.78 million jobs in retail in the year-to-Q2 2026, 62,000 fewer than a year earlier, 122,000 fewer than two years ago, and 410,000 fewer than a decade ago. This four-quarter average is the lowest on record.
Using the four-quarter average, there were 1.29 million full-time and 1.50 million part-time jobs. The number of part-time retail jobs is the lowest on record. Retail remains the largest private sector employer in the UK, bigger than both hospitality, at 2.62 million, and manufacturing, at 2.35 million.
The 2024 Budget changes to the National Insurance contributions (NICs) threshold and rate, which came into effect in April 2025, cost retailers £2.3bn. Combined with two above-inflation annual rises in the National Living Wage, retailers’ employment costs have spiralled by £6.5bn in just two years.
Commenting on these figures, Helen Dickinson, chief executive at the British Retail Consortium, said “Entry-level retail jobs are vanishing at the very moment they are needed most. With one in seven young people now not in education, employment or training, the loss of 122,000 jobs in the last two years means tens of thousands fewer opportunities for young people to get their first step on the career ladder, build skills and earn a living.
“These job losses have not happened by accident. Retailers are being hit by a tidal wave of employment costs. In just two years, increases to National Insurance Contributions and the National Living Wage have added £6.5bn in costs, while further employment reforms risk making it even harder to create and sustain jobs.
“Retailers are going above and beyond to help young people and tackle the UK NEETs crisis. Through our new initiative ‘Opening Shift’, retailers have already pledged over 11,000 work experience places, with many more to come. The industry aims to create 100,000 job opportunities for young people, but government must match that ambition with policies that support job creation, not make it harder. Raising the NICs threshold to £6,000, which would help retailers invest, hire and give thousands more young people that vital first step on the jobs ladder.”