Rise in retail staff wellbeing due to ‘renewed investment in leaders’

The latest Retail People Index, from the Retail Trust and AlixPartners, shows that overall wellbeing scores rose to 62 out of 100 between January and March this year – halting a yearlong decline.

The improvement coincided with stronger relationships between managers and staff, which reached the highest levels seen in 18 months during the period.

Despite the uptick, store and distribution centre workers reported the industry’s highest “flight risk” and presenteeism scores – with 49% of distribution and 47% of store workers considering leaving their jobs, compared to 36% of head office staff.

Four in 10 (40%) distribution and store staff also went into work feeling physically or mentally unwell between January and March 2026, compared to 30% of their head office colleagues.

Retail Trust chief executive Chris Brook-Carter said: “Retail workers are still battling job insecurity, high living costs and too many incidents of crime and abuse, and this is impacting those working on the frontline of retail the most, but the help they are receiving from their employers appears to have improved this year.

“This rise in overall wellbeing and relationships between managers and staff is testament to a renewed investment in leaders and the impact this can have on everyone’s ability to turn up to work feeling happier, healthier and more productive. Retail employers must now build on this great work by ensuring those in stores and distribution centres get even more targeted support to turn around still worryingly low levels of wellbeing.”

AlixPartners director Laura Bond said: “It is encouraging to see that retailer investment in employee wellbeing is starting to pay off. There is, however, still some way to go, as evidenced by the persistent gap between frontline and head office wellbeing scores. Workplace wellbeing is often framed solely as a people issue, yet the data in this report continues to highlight clear risks to overall business performance. Organisations that recognise and act on this will hold a distinct advantage.”