Jobs and Careers Winter 2020/21 - 153

R ETA I L

T

he amount of cash
we splash online has
been rising steadily
since the dawn of
internet shopping.
But the pandemic has
dramatically accelerated the shift from
shop to screen, potentially changing
the face of our high streets forever.
Internet sales leapt as the nation went
into lockdown in March. In November
2006, for example, they represented
just 2.6% of total retail sales, according
to the Office for National Statistics; by
February 2020, they had risen to 19%
of our total shopping. They soared to a
peak of 32.8% of all retail sales in May
this year, before settling at 26.6% by the
end of August - a considerable increase
on pre-lockdown levels by any measure.
This rapid shift has taken a toll
on some major high street names.
Department chain store Debenhams,
which employs more than 12,000
staff, went into administration for the
second time in 12 months in April. In
October, 50 Peacocks and Edinburgh
Wooden Mill stores closed as their
parent company, EWN Group collapsed,
putting 600 people out of work and more
than 19,000 further jobs on the line.
Many other retailers have also shed
staff as they fight for survival. In fact,
more than 125,000 retail workers were
let go from UK high street jobs in the
first eight months of this year and further
lockdown measures could spell more
redundancies at traditional retailers.

A different approach
But it's not all doom and gloom for
traditional retail. With more people

working from home, spending has been
diverted from major city shopping
centres such as London's West End
to local high streets, with many
independent retailers reaping the
rewards. DIY stores have been doing a
roaring trade too as many of us look to
improve our homes. Lockdown also saw
sales of groceries soar, in both bricksand-mortar stores and online. Tesco, for
example, more than doubled its online
delivery slots from March to July.
On top of booming sales, UK
supermarkets have been benefiting
from the government's business
rates holiday. They are also taking on
thousands more staff to cope with
the extra demand. Among them,
Tesco is adding 16,000 permanent
jobs this year, and Morrisons and Lidl
are creating 1,000 new jobs each.

New opportunities
The surge in online retail sales has
also created thousands of new jobs in
delivery, warehouses and customer
services, with more on the horizon as
high street retailers adapt their business
models to the shifts in our shopping
habits. Discount grocery chain Aldi, for
example, is trialling click-and-collect
and home delivery in partnership with
Deliveroo. Meanwhile, John Lewis &
Partners - which announced plans
in October to shut eight stores and a
London HQ with job losses totalling
1,350 - has drawn up ambitious
plans to diversify and increase annual
profits to £400m within five years.
Jobs in the retail sector may be
changing, but there are still plenty of
career opportunities to buy into.

Words: Trish Lesslie

Recognising the frontline heroes
They have traditionally been among
the most poorly paid and undervalued
employees in society, but as we
queued to buy essentials for the first
time in our lives we finally began to
appreciate how vital supermarket
and retail food workers really are.
Those who kept shops open and
well-stocked, often without the
benefit of PPE, became emblems
of the nation's fighting spirit as the

pandemic raged. Shelf stackers
were suddenly hailed as heroes for
their role in keeping the UK in loo
rolls, food and other essentials.
Now that we have belatedly realised
just how much we depend on these
workers, there's set to be a whole lot
more of them as major supermarket
chains create thousands of extra roles.
Apply for one of these new jobs and
you too could be a super(market)hero.

" Learning here
is practical and
on the job "
ALEECE JONES IS A
SALES ASSISTANT AT
ICELAND IN EBBW VALE
" I started working for Iceland
as a seasonal Christmas worker
and have now been taken on
permanently. I had applied for
lots of jobs but didn't get any
responses, and it was a family
friend who advised about
getting a job with Iceland.
" I work mostly on the tills and
love talking with the customers;
it has helped me to understand
how important key workers are. I
bought 25 boxes of chocolates and
gave them to Tredegar ambulance
station - I wanted to give them a
pick-me-up as everyone deserves
some happiness during this time.
" I would like to progress
at Iceland - all I want for my
18th birthday is to be a duty
manager. I'm completing a
level 2 retail apprenticeship
now I'm a permanent member
of the team, and learning is
practical and on the job.
" During lockdown, it was hard
at times because of how some
customers dealt with us - it was
difficult for both customers and
colleagues. But I work with some
great people who really support
me and I can talk to them. We are
a real family here at Iceland. "

JOBS & CAREERS /// 153

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Jobs and Careers Winter 2020/21

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Jobs and Careers Winter 2020/21
