Almost 135,000 UK retail jobs lost during pandemic, union says

Almost 135,000 traditional retail jobs were lost in the UK during the pandemic, according to trade union GMB’s analysis of official figures.

In 2019, there were an estimated 1.2 million sales and retail assistants, retail cashiers and check-out operators, GMB wrote in a news article on its website.

Fast forward to 2021, and that number fell to 1.075 million, according to the latest figures by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), representing a loss of 135,000 jobs.

“The Great British High Street is being allowed to wither and die,” GMB national secretary Andy Prendergast said. “These are vital businesses that drive our economy and help our communities thrive.”

Prendergast said GMB is calling on councils and landlords to “review commercial leases and offer lower rents”, and described the country’s business rates system as “archaic and no longer fit for purpose”.

“Empty high streets and shopping centres that look like ghost towns are no good for anyone,” he said.