Retail Job Searches Decline 11.8%: Report

There has been a decline of 11.80 per cent in Indians searching for retail jobs from August 2021 to August this year, according to a report. Indians searching for retail jobs has seen a fall during the pandemic and beyond as jobs in retail sector have seen a 5.50 per cent degrowth in the past three years (August 2019 - August 2022), global job site Indeed said in the report. 

Although retail job searches saw an uptick of 27.70 per cent from August 2020 - August 2021, it again de-grew by 11.80 per cent from August 2021 to August this year, the report said.  

This could largely be due to the lockdowns last year and the work from home set up where people chose to purchase online during festivities, it noted. 

The report is based on an analysis of data from Indeed platform from August 2019 till August 2022.  

The report further revealed that in the retail sector, managerial roles like 'branch manager' have the highest number of job postings (22.9 per cent) whereas sales associate level roles were slightly less at 10.07 per cent, followed by store manager at 9.52 per cent, logistics associate at 4.58 per cent and merchandiser at 4.38 per cent.  

However, in terms of interest from jobseekers, operational roles like store manager (15 per cent), retail sales associate (14.4 per cent), cashier (11 per cent), branch manager (9.49 per cent) and logistics associate (9.08 per cent) have more demand. 

"The festive months in India are usually a time where we see an increase in seasonal jobs to meet the increasing demand. Even though the percentage increase of jobs hasn't been on par with last year, that's not to say a substantial number of jobs have not been created. Over 39.6 per cent new jobs have been

"We see the discrepancy with last year given the global recessions happening, possible inflation, and the cautious nature of hiring currently," Indeed India's Head of Sales Sashi Kumar said. 

According to the report, Bengaluru holds the largest share of jobs in retail sector nationally at 12.26 per cent. It is followed by Mumbai at 8.2 per cent and Chennai at 6.02 per cent. 

The report further said delivery jobs have seen the highest demand in Bengaluru, with 5.5 per cent of all delivery jobs in the country being generated in this city.  

This is followed by Chennai (4.92 per cent), Mumbai (4.16 per cent), Kolkata (3.75 per cent) and Hyderabad (3.27 per cent). 

However in terms of demand from jobseekers, Chennai ranks first with 6.29 per cent of jobseekers searching for delivery jobs, followed by Hyderabad (5.23 per cent) and Kolkata (4.85 per cent), it added.