Retailers counted 70,000 fewer people in employment at the end of 2018 than the same period in 2019, as the shift to online shopping puts increasing pressure on High Street retailers, according to the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

The data shows that the number of employees in the retail sector fell 2.2 per cent on a year-on-year basis in the in the final three months of last year. The total number of hours worked by frontline retail staff fell by 2.8 per cent.

However, despite predicting further decline in the number of shop staff, the industry body predicted that these job losses will be compensated for by the creation of new jobs using artificial intelligence (AI) and digital marketing.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said the industry was seeing a “profound change” as retailers shift their operations online and the loss of frontline retail roles underpins those trends.

“Technology is changing both the way consumers shop, but also the types of jobs that exist in retail,” she said.

However, Dickinson warned that digital transformation comes at a “high cost” for retailers who are already weighed down by the increased costs of business rates and a rise in the minimum wage.

“To support this investment in the future of retail, government needs to play its part, reforming the broken business rates system to ensure it is fit for the 21st century,” she concluded.

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