The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has reacted to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
It reported that, using the four-quarter average which smooths out seasonal variations in hiring, there were 2.78m jobs in retail in the year to Q2 2026.
The BRC said this equates to 62k fewer than a year earlier, 122k fewer than two years ago and 410k fewer than a decade ago, with the four-quarter average the lowest on record.
Again using the four-quarter average, it found there were 1.29m full-time and 1.5m part-time jobs, with the part-time number for retail jobs the lowest on record.
Stark figures
The figure is all the more stark when you consider retail remains the largest private sector employer in the UK - bigger than both hospitality, at 2.62m, and manufacturing, at 2.35m.
In addition, the 2024 Budget changes to National Insurance Contribution (NIC) thresholds and rates - which came into effect in April 2025 - cost retailers £2.3bn.
”Retailers’ employment costs have spiralled by £6.5bn in just two years…”
These figures, combined with two above-inflation annual rises in the National Living Wage, mean retailers’ employment costs have spiralled by £6.5bn in just two years, the BRC said.
Commenting on these figures, Helen Dickinson, chief executive at the BRC, said: “Entry-level retail jobs are vanishing at the very moment they’re needed most.
”With one in seven young people now not in education, employment or training (or NEET), the loss of 122k jobs in 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.”
No accident
Dickinson continued: “These job losses haven’t happened by accident. Retailers are being hit by a tidal wave of employment costs. In just two years, increases to NICs 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 11k work experience places, with many more to come.
“The industry aims to create 100k job opportunities for young people, but government must match that ambition with policies that support job creation, not make it harder. Raising the NIC threshold to £6k would help retailers invest, hire and give thousands more young people that vital first step on the jobs ladder.”
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