Employment in retail is predicted to increase through to 2012. Sector information

Tesco is the UK's second-largest employer after the National Health Service. Sector information

Over half of jobs in the sector are part-time. Sector information

The biggest cause of skills gaps in retailing is the failure to train and develop staff, which is cited as a major reason why the sector suffers such a high rate of staff turnover. Sector information

Retailing is an important source of employment in each region of England, although employment in a particular region tends to be determined by the size of the population. Regional dimension

Around 45% of the workforce in the retail sector is made up of sales assistants and retail cashiers, including telephone salespeople. Occupations

60% of employees in the retail sector are women but women are under-represented at management level and on average earn 25 % less per hour than men in the sector. Equal opportunities

The retail sector workforce has a high proportion of people with no qualifications and a low proportion of graduates. Education and training

The quality of customer service is becoming increasingly important to the sector, as firms compete less on product pricing, and issues regarding recruitment and retention are increasing in importance. Discussion

Sector information

This contains an overview of the sector as a whole, details future trends in employment together with skill gaps and workforce development issues.

Data and charts

Links to the charts contained within this sector are listed together with links to data and charts from Skills in England (2003) and Working Futures (2004).

Regional / national dimension

Information on regional trends and differences.

Occupations

Information and trends on sectoral occupations.

Equal opportunities

Key information on equal opportunity issues specific to the sector.

Education and training

Education and training information and issues including work-based learning, apprenticeships, vocational qualifications, and further and higher education courses.

Research

A list of recent research publications which is intended to be a starting for those wishing for more detail on the sector.

Discussion points

Thought-provoking and challenging questions to start discussions.

Sector summary: retail

This summary gives a brief overview of the key trends in the sector.

Links and sources

This contains direct links to all the materials used to compile this sector. More in-depth and detailed information can be found in the source materials as only key points have been extracted. In addition, websites and further sources which may be of interest have been included.