With technological advancements in the retail sector transforming at a rapid rate, the pace of job reductions is also growing, new research from the British Retail Consortium has found.
Total working hours dropped 3.9 per cent, with the total number of retail workers employed also down 2.9 per cent. The majority of retailers in the UK reported a reduction in both working hours and employment.
In addition to this, growth in store sales during Q4 2017 declined by 3.7 per cent year-on-year, while the number of stores in the UK dropped by 2.6 per cent.
Some 64 per cent of respondents to the survey reported intentions to keep staffing levels the same, while seven per cent responded they would be increasing staff levels. A higher number expressed plans to reduce staff levels compared to a year ago.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “Full-time employees felt the biggest reductions as retailers are seeking greater flexibility in their workforces; a response to pressures felt from the diverging costs of labour versus technology. Indeed, there’s an ongoing shift towards wider retail investment in new or additional technology, that’s leading to a net reduction in jobs but is also creating new, better paid ones. The impact of automation on the industry therefore, is more prominent than ever.
“Disruption from technology, compounded by pressure from property taxation, is also behind the fall in the number of retail stores in the final quarter of last year, which was particularly marked in non-food. These pressures to consolidate store portfolios and the workforce is likely to continue through 2018 as structural change gains momentum.
“Against this backdrop, our industry stands ready to work in partnership with government and stakeholders to upskill the retail workforce with the digital skills and confidence to work effectively with new technologies entering the workplace.”
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