Temporary store closures due to coronavirus lead to 14% drop in retail jobs
The UK job market has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, with retail jobs dropping by 14% in March, when comparing data with the previous year, according to the latest report from CV-Library.
The study, which explores job market data from March 2020 and compares this with figures from February 2020 and the same period in 2019, also reveals that the retail sector experienced an 2.8% dip in vacancies when looking at month-on-month data.
The data also shows that applications to retail jobs have dropped by 29.8% year-on-year and 1.7% month-on-month.
Lee Biggins, CEO and founder of CV-Library said: “It’s not surprising that the outbreak of COVID-19 has prevented businesses from moving forward with their hiring plans. With global supply chains disrupted and many organisations forced to close their doors in order to respect social distancing rules, companies have had to change the way they operate and adapt to this new normal. Sadly, this has involved placing existing employees on furlough and even making redundancies.
“The national unemployment rate is set to soar in April and there’s no doubt that this will be a really tricky time for business owners across the UK. However, we will come out the other side of the pandemic and organisations need to be ready. Thankfully, key retail stores are able to remain open to service the needs of the British public and hopefully we should see our figures improve in the months to come.”
Biggins added: “The sad reality is this is going to be a tough year for many businesses. And, while the government’s assistance should provide some respite, the future of our economy and the UK job market remains uncertain. For now, all we can do is sit tight, wait for the storm to pass and hope that normality will return soon.”
