英國零售商正以十年來最快速率裁員
UK retailers cut jobs over the past three months at the fastest rate since comparable records began in 2008, due to technological change and rising employment costs, the British Retail Consortium said.
英國零售商協會於日前表示，由於技術變化和就業成本的上升，英國零售商在過去三個月以2008年以來的最快速率進行裁員。The BRC said its members employed 3.0 per cent fewer staff in the third quarter of this year than during the same time in 2016, and total hours worked fell by 4.2 per cent year-on-year.
該協會稱，今年第三季度其成員僱用員工的數量要比2016年同期減少了3%，總工作時間同比下降了4.2%。Both were the steepest falls since the BRC started collecting records in 2008, when Britain was in the middle of its sharpest recession in decades.
這兩項數據都是英國零售商協會自2008年開始收集記錄以來的最大跌幅，當時英國經濟正處於數十年來最嚴重的衰退。
This contrasts with the picture in the broader economy, where the unemployment rate is its lowest since 1975 and job creation has been strong, albeit partly at the expense of wages.
這與整體經濟情況形成了鮮明對比，目前英國的失業率是1975年以來的最低水平，就業崗位一直保持強勁態勢，儘管一定程度上是以犧牲工資爲代價的。Still, the BRC report chimed with a European Commission survey last month that showed British retailers' expectations for employment sank to their lowest since late 2011.
然而，英國零售商協會的報告與上月歐盟委員會的調查一致。該調查顯示，英國零售商對就業的預期降至2011年末以來的最低水平。"The pace of job reductions in the retail industry is gathering steam," BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said.
英國零售商協會首席執行官海倫·迪金森表示：“零售業的裁員步伐正在加快。”"Behind this shrinking of the workforce is both a technological revolution in retail, which is reducing demand for labour, and government policy, which is driving up the cost of employment," she added.
她還表示：“政府的政策正在推高僱傭成本，在此次減少勞動力的背後，是零售業的技術革命，這是在減少對勞動力的需求。”
