We are now wrapping up our sixth year of recruiting for the retail sector of the fashion industry. This sector was included in our business to meet the demand for retail in the fashion industry. Retail has continued to increase over the years with the development of new retail stores and there are more on the way.

At Rag Trade Recruitment we are still aggressively educating the population about retail by speaking to High Schools and giving free information evenings. There is still room for growth concerning the amount of information available to the public about retail. It is exciting to see that the majority of candidates wanting to work in retail now, are new to the industry, and they do consider retail to be a serious career option, they are hungry for information and training. 

...it is important that more candidates new to the industry are hired, and it is vital that untrained candidates are hired now...

To confirm that fashion retail (like other industries) is capable of providing training, it is important that more candidates new to the industry are hired, and it is vital that untrained candidates are hired now, so there is a new group of retail professionals in the market ready to step into management roles to keep up with the rapid growth of the new stores opening.
 
There are 3 main expectations of candidates new to fashion retail:

1. Pay rates equivalent to other industries
2. Opportunity for progression
3. Annual pay increases for good performance

Candidates of high caliber from other backgrounds interested in retail are not ready to lower their pay or career expectations. The latest findings from the New Zealand Income Survey for the June 2003 quarter show a rise in average hourly earnings for wage and salary workers of 6.9 percent. Clearly business in general is willing to pay to retain or hire good staff. Retail still seems to be slow in catching up for full and part time employees.
The good news is that it seems possible for retailers to match these pay increases. New Zealand’s annual figures for retail in general add up to over $40 billion. With this result we are hoping that we see more money spent on staff financial rewards and training.
As we enter into our seventh year for the retail division we are budgeting for yet more growth and wish all of our clients and candidates a wonderful New Year and every success in 2004.

Latest facts:

• The Retail sector accounts for 15% of business enterprises in NZ
• There are over 49,000 plus retail outlets in NZ
• Retail in NZ employees over 134,500 full time staff and 95,400 part time staff
• Retail employees nearly one in every five employees in NZ
• In 2001 20% of all advertising was paid for by retail

What’s New:

• Retail Science: Retailers have a new hand book from the NZ Retailers Association:  ‘What's In Store?’ - written by leading  specialists in retail.
• Monash University retailing courses: Normally held in Melbourne are being held in New Zealand during April next year.
• Holidays Bill: The estimated cost of the proposed additional week of annual leave for wider retailers is 68 million per year.
• Theft Prevention: Retailers spend more on security and surveillance systems than they do on staff training.
• www.energywise.org.nz is where retailers are going for advice on how to save energy.

Facts sourced from The NZ Retailers association.