Nearly half of the UK’s millions of retail workers are considering quitting the sector over concerns for their mental health, as the majority report facing abuse at work.

Retail is the sector in which the most workers (52 per cent) have faced verbal abuse in the past year, as 44 per cent mull quitting the industry over health and wellbeing concerns, according to data from employment support firm Sonder.

Several leading retail bosses have called on the government to crack down on abuse against workers in recent months, including the chiefs of Iceland and Marks & Spencer.

Retail staff face abuse at nearly twice the rate of the average employee, as 15 per cent report having felt unsafe at work.

Nearly one in five (18 per cent) retail workers have faced harassment while 12 per cent have been threatened with physical abuse, according to the new data.

More than 1,600 violent incidents against shop workers are recorded every day, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), despite retailers having piled nearly £5.5bn into a crack down on crime in the last five years.

Retail staff face record ‘workplace aggression’

The high prevalence of abuse against shop workers comes as retailers face an increasing squeeze on staffing.

Nearly three in five (59 per cent) of retail staff say employee absences are piling more pressure onto already-stretched teams, while 63 per cent say that at least one sick day a year could have been avoided if they had more support.

Craig Cowdrey, the chief executive of Sonder, said retail workers are facing “some of the highest levels of workplace aggression in the UK”.

He said: The reality is that repeated exposure to aggression can take a significant toll on someone’s health and ultimately influence whether people stay in the sector.

“This is a growing challenge for retailers at a time when employment costs are rising and hiring is becoming more expensive.”

Iceland: Workers should be armed with truncheons

In recent days, retailers have urged the government to address the youth unemployment crisis facing the country, warning that the “ladder is wobbling” on the position of retail as a gateway industry for young workers.

“It’s more expensive than ever to bring in young talent, and new Employment Rights Act changes are making managing our workforce more complicated when we need it to be simpler,” more than 80 retail bosses told the Prime Minister.

In April, M&S chief executive Stuart Machin wrote to the Home Secretary, calling for a crackdown on what his supermarket had dubbed a wave of “brazen, organised, aggressive” retail crime.

Lord Richard Walker, the boss of grocery chain Iceland and Keir Starmer’s cost of living adviser, has argued that retail staff should be armed with pepper spray and truncheons to deal with aggressive shoplifters.