Retail

• Induced jobs are concentrated in food and beverage and retail sectors (~118,000 in 2050), as workers consume and shop on High Streets across the UK. Drax
• While high-tech jobs have been growing rapidly in the UK, in the longer term, jobs in sectors such as retail are increasingly at risk. Prospect Magazine
• England's high streets could lose up to 400,000 retail jobs as a result of more people working from home and shopping online after the coronavirus pandemic, with affluent towns in the south among the most vulnerable. The Guardian
• Up to 30% of UK jobs could be at high risk of automation by the early 2030s, with the risks highest in sectors such as transportation and storage, manufacturing and wholesale and retail 1. Megatrends
• In less than positive retail news, Payless ShoeSource, Inc. filed for bankruptcy late Monday night and will begin to liquidate over 2,000 stores across the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico - resulting up to 16,000 workers losing their jobs. Armstrong Economics
• 11% of jobs currently held by women are at risk of elimination as a result of AI and other digital technologies. Forbes
• Hundreds more retail jobs are expected to be lost after Gap said that it would shut 19 stores as part of a continuing review of its UK operations. The Times
• With full business rates relief ending in England in June, the ongoing rates review needs to deliver on its objectives to reform the broken rates system and reduce the financial pressures on retailers, otherwise many stores and viable jobs will be under threat'. content
• The healthcare sector represents a large and growing portion of the US GDP, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) predicting that healthcare spending will account for nearly 20 percent of overall GDP by 2025. Cognizant
• Women's jobs have a 70% or higher probability of future automation, translating globally to 180 million jobs held by women that could be eliminated over the next 20 years. Forbes
• Every week last year, an estimated 3,400 retail jobs were lost in the UK, with up to 200,000 more retail jobs predicted to be at risk in 2021. Training Journal
• The anticipated retaliation by China will escalate the U.S.-China trade war and reduce U.S. gross domestic product by nearly $3 billion. CTA
• Walmart will invest $350 billion in U.S. manufacturing over the next 10 years, a move the retailer estimates will support the creation of more than 750,000 new American jobs. Retail Touchpoints
• A recent study commissioned by the CTA and the National Retail Federation showed that the current $50 billion in duties will reduce the U.S. gross domestic product by nearly $3 billion and lead to four job losses for every job gained. Twice
• With automation also threatening the loss of many retail jobs in future, some are predicting that as much as 95% of shopping will be online by 2040. The Conversation
• The retail, healthcare and transportation sectors are all expected to add approximately 400 jobs in 2021, which for retail would be the first growth in years but also follows the loss of about 1,300 jobs last year. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
• As in Europe, we suspect that manufacturing, construction and most retail will remain open, but restrictions on other sectors will still come at a huge economic cost with millions of jobs potentially at risk. Think.ING
• In 2021, AI augmentation will generate $2.9 trillion in business value and recover 6.2 billion hours of worker productivity. The Economic Times
• Depending on how heavily retailers automate in the years to come, job losses could be severe in a sector that has already experienced wave after wave of store closings by the likes of Macy's, Toys "R" Us and Sears. NY Times
• 44% of UK wholesale and retail jobs are at potential risk of automation from robotics and AI by the mid-2030s 121. Retail Ireland Skillnet

Last updated: 24 October 2021