Nearly half of all retail staff worked while unwell last year
The report also revealed that employees aged between 35 and 54 saw the sharpest rise in presenteeism, up from 41% between July and September, to 53% in the final three months of the year
Nearly half (46%) of retail staff worked while unwell at the end of last year, which is 5% higher than the end of 2023, as fears around job cuts following the autumn Budget’s tax rises took hold.
According to the new Retail People Index, published by the Retail Trust and global consulting firm AlixPartners, the rates of presenteeism, where people work with a physical or mental health condition, were higher before Christmas than at any other time since the index began tracking wellbeing in retail 18 months earlier.
Retail workers’ wellbeing levels also dropped to their lowest in 18 months and there was a steep rise in the number of employees at risk of leaving their jobs due to feeling depressed and anxious about work.
The Retail Trust provided £878,935 in financial aid to retail workers in need in 2024, an increase from £664,349 in 2023, with the number of requests for help to pay for food increasing threefold by the end of the year.
The report also revealed that employees aged between 35 and 54 saw the sharpest rise in presenteeism, up from 41% between July and September, to 53% in the final three months of the year.
Shop workers were unhappier than their head office based colleagues, by 6%, and men in non-manager roles had a 6% bigger ‘flight risk’, or propensity to quit, than women in comparative roles at the end of 2024.
Scores for the Retail People Index are calculated using responses to a happiness assessment, delivered with the Retail Trust’s data partner WorkL, from nearly 6,500 retail workers.
Chris Brook-Carter, chief executive of the Retail Trust, said: “The festive period always brings added pressures for retail workers but there was a noticeable increase in the number of people suffering last Christmas compared to the year before. We must put some of this down to the economic uncertainty facing the country and retail jobs in particular following the tax rises announced in last autumn’s Budget.
“It remains to be seen whether wellbeing will improve this spring, as it did last year, or if insecurities around jobs, finances and the political climate will continue to take their toll on employees’ physical and mental health. Either way, it’s clear that employers need to ensure staff have the right resources and reassurance to recover and rebuild their resilience following a difficult autumn and winter.”
Laura Bond, a director at AlixPartners, added: “Retailers are facing a perfect storm, with squeezed discretionary consumer spending, higher business rates, rising National Insurance contributions, and a rise in the national minimum wage all either continuing or about to bite. As our Index shows, the uncertainty that this is creating is a key contributor to the decline in confidence of the people that work within retail, which in turn impacts business performance.
“In the wake of the government’s Spring Statement, business leaders have an opportunity to address uncertainty felt across the industry and engage with their teams. Employee engagement has never been more vital for those looking to drive retention, and in turn, growth and greater resilience.”
