How has working in retail changed in 20 years?

A few years back I packed up working in retail after 20 years in the industry, although it was an administration job I was on the shop floor on a regular basis and saw quite a few staff come and go over the years.

Eventually, the independent firm I worked for got bought out by a very well known UK retailer. We were all amazed at the ruthlessness, treatment of staff, paranoia over theft and barebones nature of the staffing etc. All the of staff left over the next few months.

Looking back at retail when I first started got me wondering where it all went wrong. Here care some possible reasons for the detrimental change:

- We have never fully recovered from the 2008 recession (paranoia of costs/sales hit)
- The minimum wage has caused staffing levels to be pushed further and further down
- Zero hour contract brought with it a ruthless disposable staff culture
- Any hopes of a decent company pension scheme have disappeared
- The rise in e-commerce has put more pressure on shops and it's workers


NOTE: It was quite an "embarrassing" admission 20 years ago to work in retail, which on a positive note, doesn't seem to exist nowadays. However, I feel for how poorly staff are treated by management in a modern-day large retailer, giving a false impression to new workers in how workers should be treated and what is acceptable.

I am sure anyone who has worked for the supermarkets has seen massive changes over the last 15 years.

I am interested to hear from seasoned retail workers how things may have changed for them?