Nearly half of people working in UK retail are at risk of quitting (51%) or going into work with a health problem (44%) in the weeks following Christmas, according to a new index tracking employee wellbeing trends across the retail industry over the last year.
The Retail People Index, which surveyed more than 2,000 UK retail employees and is the first to be published by retail industry charity the Retail Trust and global consulting firm AlixPartners, also showed a 7% drop in overall wellbeing (from 65% to 58%) across the retail workforce between the start of autumn 2023 and the end of last winter, showing the impact of the busy Christmas period on employees’ mental health.
Calls to the Retail Trust’s wellbeing helpline also rose by more than a third (36%) in January this year.
The research found that the risk of employees leaving their jobs or working while unwell is lower in the summer months. 27% of all UK retail employees were at risk of working while unwell and 40% were at risk of quitting in the summer of 2023 and just a third (34%) were at risk of working while unwell or quitting by the start of this summer.
Younger retail employees most impacted
But the Retail People Index discovered a greater mental health toll on young retail employees between the ages of 19 and 34 years than on that of older colleagues.
Young employees were found to be 10% more likely to leave their retail jobs than the workforce as a whole at the start of this year (61% versus 51%). Meanwhile, half (52%) of 19–24-year-olds and 43% of 25-34-year-olds were still at risk of coming into work while sick between April and June this year, compared to a third of retail workers overall.
The index was created by measuring more than 4,500 responses to the Retail Trust’s online happiness assessment, delivered with employee engagement platform WorkL, between June 2023 and June 2024*.
More than 2,000 staff were asked about their mental and physical health and how valued and fulfilled they feel at work to create an overall wellbeing score. Questions around pay, recognition, relationships with managers, work-related anxiety and workplace safety were among those used to separately help calculate the likelihood of them leaving their jobs or working while unwell.
Chris Brook-Carter, chief executive of the Retail Trust, said:
Retailers need to put in place the right wellbeing support in the run up to this winter when the mental health pressures on retail staff could again be at their highest. This is particularly important for younger workers who tell us they feel less happy and safe at work and lack the tools to manage their stress and anxiety themselves.
Chris Brook-Carter, chief executive of the Retail Trust
The Retail Trust runs a wellbeing helpline and provides counselling and financial aid for retail workers and works with more than 200 retail employers to improve the mental health of their staff. It launched a new generative AI powered dashboard earlier this year to help retailer better track staff wellbeing trends and improve the effectiveness of support.
Joanne is the editor for Workplace Wellbeing Professional and has a keen interest in promoting the safety and wellbeing of the global workforce. After earning a bachelor's degree in English literature and media studies, she taught English in China and Vietnam for two years. Before joining Work Well Pro, Joanne worked as a marketing coordinator for luxury property, where her responsibilities included blog writing, photography, and video creation.
