WorkJam, the leading frontline operations platform, today announced new research revealing that retailers are increasingly prioritising cost control over employee experience as rising labour costs and operational pressures force organisations to rethink how they manage their frontline workforce.
The findings, based on a survey of over 150 retail professionals conducted at the recent Retail Technology Show 2026, suggest the sector is undergoing a significant strategic shift compared to last year, with retailers moving away from workforce engagement strategies and toward short-term cost and operational measures.
Specifically, more than a third of respondents (37%) said they are now prioritising cost control over employee retention and experience in their workforce strategy, while only 5% said employee experience remains the priority. This represents a dramatic change from 2025, when employee engagement was identified as the sector’s biggest challenge for the frontline workforce.
In addition, following rises in National Insurance contributions and the National Minimum Wage, nearly 50% (44%) of retailers are responding by reducing or slowing hiring, while nearly a third (29%) are raising prices. This aligns with 2025 expectations, when 62% anticipated price increases and 59% expected redundancies.
“This is one of the sharpest and most risky strategic reversals we have seen in the sector in recent years,” said Mark Williams, Managing Director EMEA at WorkJam. “The pressure retailers are facing is real, but deprioritising employee experience is a short-term reaction that will negatively compound over time. The challenge for retailers is finding ways to reduce costs and simplify operations without losing focus on frontline engagement. With the right platform strategy, retailers can consolidate their tech stack while also improving the employee experience.”
At the same time, there has been little progress in foundational workforce management capabilities, with the adoption of fully automated digital workforce solutions remaining slow. AI maturity is still at an early stage for most organisations, while regulatory readiness also remains low, with only 25% making changes in response to the Employment Rights Bill.
Additional research findings include:
– 66% of respondents said that workforce pressures are forcing their organisations to rethink their operating models.
– 31% of retailers said their organisation still relies on basic workforce management tools, while 26% continue to use manual or outdated processes or have no formal process.
– 74% of respondents said their organisation is using AI in workforce operations, but only 13% reported deployment at scale.
– Just 20% of retailers described their organisation’s AI maturity for workforce optimisation as advanced or mature.
– Efficiency/productivity is the primary reason (56%) that retailers are investing in AI for workforce management, with only 15% doing so to improve employee experience.
“Frontline operations platforms are becoming increasingly important as retailers look to simplify operations without creating additional friction for employees,” Williams adds. “By bringing together scheduling, communication, task management and learning into a single platform, retailers can reduce the complexity and costs associated with fragmented systems, while also creating a more connected and engaging experience for frontline teams. The retailers that will be most successful are those recognising that operational efficiency and employee experience are closely linked, not competing priorities.”
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