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Business performanceLatest NewsEconomics, government & businessLearning & developmentRecruitment & retention

Retail squeeze likely to hit jobs and training

by Gareth Vorster 8 Apr 2008
by Gareth Vorster 8 Apr 2008

The director-general of the British Retail Consortium has warned of potential cuts in training and recruitment in the retail sector, following a slow-down in consumer spending.

In an interview with the Times yesterday, Stephen Robertson said that retailers were under increasing pressure to hold fire on recruitment plans and training initiatives.

A spokesperson for the British Retail Consortium told Personnel Today that flexible and part-time workers were most likely to be affected.

Robertson called on the Bank of England to cut interest rates by up to half a percentage point, or face potential job cuts in high street retail stores.

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“There’s lots of talk about job cuts at the moment. Every prudent retailer is looking at cost-cutting more seriously than they have done for some time,” Robertson said.

“The Bank of England should take a quarter-point off rates, and it’s even getting to the stage where a half-point is not unreasonable. If the economy slows down dramatically you have got to realise that one in nine people employed in the UK is employed in retail,” he added.

Gareth Vorster

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Personnel Today
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