Retail employment grows marginally in December

December showed the strongest month-on-month growth in retail employment since February 2014, up 0.9% year-on-year, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). 

The BRC-Bond Dickinson Retail Employment Monitor which found that growth in December was supported entirely by the non-food sector while the grocery sector continued to to cut back on hours worked by employees.

In the three months ending December 2014, full time jobs in retail decreased by 0.6% overall, despite a rise of 1.9% in the number of outlets. The BRC put this store growth down to food retailers expanding their existing portfolios.

According to the research just 4% of retailers plan to increase staffing levels in the next three months, while 50% of retailers intend to decrease staffing levels and 46% will keep staffing levels unchanged.

Helen Dickinson, director general of the BRC, said: “It appears that December was not only a good month for retail sales but also for retail employees – staff numbers were marginally up on last year as retailers hired more people to meet the seasonal demand from shoppers.

“This increase is important because a temporary job at Christmas is the gateway for many to a long and fulfilling career in our industry.”