Mention economic disasters and the GFC immediately comes to mind. The crisis affected a range of industries including retail, and linked sectors such as fashion recruitment also felt the blow. While some fashion recruitment companies weathered the storm, others downsized and some simply folded, cutting their losses. Yet a select few, such as fashion recruitment company Who in the Zoo, flourished.
The now four-year-old business launched just before the crisis hit and has grown rapidly since then, working with retail giants PAS Group, M Webster Holdings and the General Pants Group, and brands such as PeepToe shoes and Volcom, to name a few. According to director Sue Di Chio, her success is driven by the distinct way in which the company operates as a “next generation” agency – the rise of which is changing the fashion recruitment landscape.
“Although a lot of recruitment companies have had it really tough, we managed to not only survive but also to grow, even in the midst of the financial crisis when no one was hiring, and I think that's because we're doing recruitment in a whole new way,” she says. “Recruitment had always been a stuffy, older type of industry and the recruiters are generally on the side of the client, because the client is the one engaging them to find someone and footing the bill, but we've taken a more positive approach towards our candidates which is very different.”
Chio says the increased focus on candidate care, which includes detailed, regular updates throughout the recruitment process and personalised advice from her agency on candidates’ CVs, has been welcomed by the retail industry.
“There really aren't that many niche recruiters for fashion and retail and from what candidates tell me – especially the older ones – it's refreshing to come to an agency which cares about the candidate,” she says. “That's also the feedback that candidates give me for why they don't want to use the other agencies.”
The rise of the digital era has also evolved fashion recruitment, according to Roy Zurnamer, director of Massetti Recruitment.
“I've been in the business 20 years, and in recent times, our business has become significantly more mobile and flexible,” he says. “[Due to technology] the speed at which you can react and respond has increased enormously. There's also been a complete change in the way you advertise and where.”
However, Zurnamer is adamant that the emergence of sites such as Seek and professional social networking sites like LinkedIn haven't affected his business negatively at all, and says they have been more of a help than a hindrance.
“I don't see these things as putting pressure on fashion recruitment, rather it's our job to take advantage of whatever digital media offers to us, in terms of advertising and access to candidates.
“Ultimately, whether they're advertising on print media or the internet, our clients have always been able to [take over and] do what we did, if they had wanted to. But it's actually a very useful tool, and it's a lot cheaper than print.”
However, there are other changes afoot in the fashion recruitment industry that aren't as positive, according to Gai Scarlett, director of veteran fashion recruitment company Scarlett Recruitment. Scarlett has been in the fashion recruitment business since 1989 and says her job has become increasingly difficult in recent years due to the shrinking talent pool of home-grown, experienced retail professionals.
“What's happening now is that the talent pool is shrinking because all the good people are going overseas and to Asian regions in particular, because it's attractive, there's more money, there's more training, and there are bigger corporations to work for, which leaves a smaller pool here across senior management roles,” she says.
According to Scarlett, as local talent moves away, the door is left open for seasoned international players. The recent appointment of ex-Burberry UK executive Daniel Bracken, to chief executive of fashion behemoth Apparel Group, is a prime example of top international talent moving in to fill the gap left in the local talent market.
“Companies are struggling to get good people now, and some companies are just throwing big salaries at people and some of them are not really qualified to be in those [senior] positions, so when they leave because they're not skilled, companies look to overseas talent, because they are coming through with different training, better stats, better history and better career paths than local people.”
A decrease in staff training and development by retailers is further exacerbating the talent drought and making it harder for fashion recruitment companies to locate and place suitable staff.
“The shrinking talent pool has been a gradual process over the last three or four years because companies are not spending the money on training and succession. They are tightening their purse strings and not spending on the training and development of their people, so that's cut some of the talent out, which you can see in the marketplace today.”
But perhaps the winds of change are again on the move as Australian retail businesses start to take note of the dwindling number of home-grown management heads and the influx of foreign forces.
“I think clients are now starting to listen and say 'okay, there's some merit in what you're saying',” Scarlett says. “They are realising it's not just about a placement fee, it's about putting the right person in the role in the first place, giving them training, inducting them correctly, and giving them some incentive and a road map to get to that top job.”