More than half of retail workers are now a ‘flight risk’, according to new research by industry charity the Retail Trust and global consulting firm AlixPartners.

The study found that more retail staff were at risk of leaving their jobs at the start of this summer than at any other time in the last two years, as concerns around the insecurity of retail employment deepened.

The latest Retail People Index from found that 54% of retail workers were a ‘flight risk’ between April and June, a 19% increase from the previous year.

It is also the highest percentage that the Retail People Index has recorded since it began tracking wellbeing across the sector two years ago.

More than 600 employees were surveyed, and answers to questions about pay, recognition, development and work-related anxiety were among those used to help calculate the flight risk score, which shows the likelihood of employees leaving their jobs.

Wellbeing reduction

Overall, wellbeing fell seven points year-on-year in Q2 2025, from 66 to 59.

While the number of retail staff working while feeling physically or mentally unwell rose by 12%, to 44% of all employees.

The findings follow separate data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which shows that there were 93,000 fewer retail jobs in March 2025 than in March 2024.

The ONS also recently revealed that retail saw one of the largest drops in job vacancies between May and July 2025 compared to any other sector.

Chris Brook-Carter, chief executive of the Retail Trust: “Our research has previously shown retail workers tend to be at their happiest going into the summer, once the busy winter is well behind them.

“But ongoing insecurities around jobs, finances and the political climate are continuing to take their toll on people working in retail.”

Under-resourced teams

According to the Retail People Index, the impact of leading under-resourced teams has contributed to a decline in happiness levels amongst retail managers, which fell by 11% in Q2 2025. This marks the first time that managers have reported feeling unhappier than non-managers since the publication of the first Retail People Index.

Many managers reported feeling unfairly paid and unrecognised for doing something well.

Meanwhile, the number of retail workers reporting a positive relationship with their manager also dropped to its lowest level in two years.

“The rising employment costs announced in last year’s budget are placing huge economic pressures on the sector and we’re seeing this felt most severely by those working in management roles right now,” said Brook-Carter.

“They are the ones having to hold often under-resourced and unhappy teams together, and our findings suggest they feel inadequately supported for doing so.

Laura Bond, a director at AlixPartners, said: “This quarter’s Retail People Index reveals urgent challenges for retailers. With 54% of employees looking to leave their roles – the highest flight risk since our tracking began – and wellbeing scores dropping to 59%, below the critical 60% threshold, it’s clear that employees are struggling.

“Presenteeism rates have soared to 44%, the highest level seen in 18 months, while manager-employee relationships have deteriorated and reached a 24-month low.”

Brook-Carter said the financial pressures impacting the retail sector “are largely outside of employers’ control”.

“There is an urgent need to address the particular burden this is now having on managers and to prevent the knock-on effect it will also have on their teams,” he said.

“Providing more training and support for leaders to look after themselves and those working for them is crucial if we are to prevent a further decline in morale, higher turnover and greater instability at a time when resilience is more important than ever.”

The Retail People Index has been created by measuring 8,474 responses to the Retail Trust’s online happiness assessment, delivered with employee engagement platform WorkL.

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