HR Benchmark Q3 2024
13 November 20243 Minute Read
Harvir DhillonEconomist | BRC
Kris Hamer PhDDirector of Insight | BRC
ONS Labour Market Statistics
Jobs 
There were 2.83 million jobs in retail in Q2 2024, a decrease of 29,000 jobs (or a decrease of 1.0%) compared to a year ago and loss of 323,000 compared to Q4 2019 (-10.3%).
Vacancies 
Wholesale and retail vacancies numbered 82,000, 31.7% lower than in the period immediately preceding the pandemic and 5.7% lower on the quarter.
Redundancies 
In the three months to September, there were 12,000 redundancies in the wholesale and retail sector, 9,000 more than in the previous quarter but 4,000 fewer than in Oct-Dec 2019.
Wages 
At 8.5%, median payroll growth in retail was above the UK average of 7.0%.
Productivity 
Retail labour productivity was 0.5% lower on Q4 2023 and 3.3% above the same time last year.
The BRC is running the HR Benchmark survey quarterly to provide retail members with market intelligence for labour planning. Full access to the report is restricted to survey participants, with summary labour market statistics available for non-participant members. For full access to the figures within future HR Benchmark reports, do participate in our upcoming survey round. 44 retailers submitted their data to the Q2 2024 benchmark. We greatly appreciate your input. This report covers over 760,000 workers.