New research has benchmarked retail’s workforce pressure by region. Sydney dominates the top ten with six regions, but the hardest-working region in the country is Perth’s North East, scoring 84.11. Retail workers there average 25.9 hours a week (53% more than retail nationally), with a weekend load 29% above the national average and 23% less roster notice.

Workforce platform Deputy has analysed 12 months of real rostering and timesheet data (Sep 2025–Aug 2026) across 85 regions to map where retail is running its people hardest – the longest weeks, the latest shifts and the shortest roster notice.

Emma Seymour, Chief Financial Officer, at Deputy says every region faces a different staffing reality.

“The data is not a measure of how hard people work. It shows how work is organised, and where businesses have an opportunity to make their operations run better for both their people and their bottom line,” she said.

Key findings

Looking across industries, it found Outback Western Australia (South) is Australia’s hardest-working region. It scores 83.76 out of 100 on the Hardest-Working Index. Its shift workers on Deputy average 24% more hours a week than its industry mix predicts. A quarter of their hours (25.4%) are on evening and overnight shifts, nearly double what its industries predict.

Western Australia’s Outback (North) works the longest weeks and the longest shifts, even after allowing for industry mix. Its shift workers do 38% more hours a week than its industries predict, on shifts 12% longer. 

Sydney’s Blacktown gets the least roster notice for its industries. Shifts are known 4.7 days ahead on average, 28% less than its industry mix predicts. Parramatta gets the least notice outright, at 3.8 days against 5.9 nationally.

Planning reliable rosters

Ms Seymour notes the difference that scheduling roster even just a few days earlier can make.

“[Short notice] can make it harder for employees to manage childcare, study or a second job, and can leave businesses relying on costly last-minute changes when demand or availability shifts,” she said.

“For business owners and managers, the answer is not simply to schedule more hours. It is to plan earlier and use the information already available to build a more reliable roster. Publishing shifts even a few days sooner can reduce last-minute swaps, improve coverage and help teams plan their lives. It is also important to look at who is regularly covering evening and overnight shifts, so the load does not keep falling on the same people.”

Forecasting can help businesses make those decisions with more confidence. Deputy labour demand forecasting shows expected demand and labour percentage day by day, then compares the forecast with what actually happened, says Ms Seymour.

“That helps managers see where staffing and demand did not line up, build rosters around expected trade, maintain minimum coverage and stay within budget.”