Retail role cuts risk a ‘jobless generation’, warns BRC

Recent data from the Office of National Statistics found there were 2.86 million retail jobs in December 2025 – 68,000 less than in 2024 and 383,000 fewer than in 2015.

Using the four-quarter average, there were 1.28 million full-time and 1.52 million part-time jobs last year. This was 140,000 fewer full-time positions than a decade ago and 242,000 fewer part-time roles.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said the loss of almost 400,000 retail jobs over the past decade “is the loss of hundreds of thousands of opportunities for young people to start earning for themselves, and for older people to return to the workforce”.

She said: “People everywhere are struggling to find jobs, youth employment is falling faster still, and the UK faces the prospect of a jobless generation. 

“One in five people had their first job in retail, yet this vital step on the career ladder is cracking under the high costs of employment. In 2025 alone, the cost of employing a full-time entry-level worker rose by 10%, while part-time employment rose by over 13%.

“The government clearly recognises the scale of the challenge, and we welcome the expansion of the Youth Guarantee to open up more opportunities for young people.”

A previous BRC report found that 70% of young people said flexibility is important at work. However, Dickinson argued that this flexibility “is now under threat from how the Employment Rights Act is implemented”.

“Poorly designed changes to guaranteed hours could make it harder – not easier – for businesses to offer part‑time work, discouraging employers from creating the very roles young people, students, parents and carers all rely on,” she said.

Dickinson added: “As the government consults on the act, the priority must be clear: protect workers and protect job creation. The goal should be to tackle bad practice without making recruitment more complex, risky or expensive – especially at a time when the country urgently needs more routes into work.”