NATIONAL: A chronic shortage of retail staff in New Zealand could overshadow the market's steady return to form, key Australian retailers have claimed.
The latest figures from Statistics New Zealand indicate trading conditions for businesses are starting to improve in the wake of the global financial crisis, with seasonally adjusted core retail sales in August up by 1.2 per cent on July.
However, while some Australian companies operating in the market have embraced the news, many believe staffing problems may limit their ability to capitalise on these stronger conditions.
Cue Clothing Company chief executive Rod Levis has reported a "big jump" in recent sales, with September figures up 23 per cent on the previous month. Levis credited his staff for the increase but said the global financial crisis had only served to highlight the seriousness of the employee shortage.
“The stronger and better retailers who have better staff are performing better. When the economic climate becomes difficult, obviously the staff have more impact on the bottom line. So our problems in New Zealand are 99 per cent staff-related.”Retail Apparel Group, which operates a total of 14 Tarocash and YD stores in New Zealand, has also faced difficulties sourcing employees. Chief executive Gary Novis said retaining strong retail staff was now more important than ever, with the group opening two new stores in Christchurch earlier this month.
“Both have opened really well, but it’s a continuous challenge for us to get great people in the stores, and we always find it’s harder to get good people in New Zealand than it is in Australia.
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