Job losses leave companies spoiled for choice

There could be a silver lining to the spate of redundancies plaguing the textile, clothing and footwear (TCF) sector, according to fashion recruitment experts.

While consultants across the east coast have reported a comparable decline in the number of new job listings for the first half of 2009, many claimed businesses now had access to a greater talent pool of skilled and experienced employees.

Melbourne-headquartered TCF recruitment service Permanser, which had been in operation since 1981, confirmed positions across patternmaking, manufacturing and garment technology had always been difficult to fill. Director Michael Harris said high-profile redundancies in this area meant a fresh opportunity for businesses who had struggled to find suitable candidates for years.

In February, clothing and footwear group Pacific Brands announced it would axe 1200 manufacturing and 650 non-manufacturing jobs over an 18-month period.

"Some of the smaller, more flexible companies have picked up business lost by the majors and in some cases, are actually expanding their teams, either through casual staff or by the employment of skilled and experienced employees who are always difficult to source but may be more readily available at the moment," Harris said.

"For a forward thinking company, this is the ideal time to strengthen their team with key personnel who will become even harder to source when the global financial crisis is over."

Even struggling businesses had introduced shorter hours in order to retain employees in difficult-to-find positions.

"We have also definitely seen a steep increase in temporary positions, which gives the employer flexibility and much reduced commitment during the 'let's wait and see what happens' period. Temporary to permanent placements can also be a win-win situation when there are more candidates not working as both employer and employee test each other out."

Perfect Fit Personnel, which had offices in Sydney's eastern suburbs and Melbourne's South Yarra district, confirmed there would always be demand for highly skilled workers in the industry. The recruitment firm had a portfolio more than 300 clients including Hermes, Sass & Bide, Lisa Ho, Cue, Forever New, Zimmermann and Gucci.

Managing director Angela Shelest said although moves towards offshore production had resulted in job losses, fashion firms were still investing in local teams - even if it meant doing so on a contract basis.

"Our industry has undoubtedly been affected the financial crisis and this has been clearly demonstrated by the job losses we have all seen within the manufacturing area. [However], we can confirm that companies are still hiring - they are re-evaluating their staff because they see there are better skilled people and more talent in the market."

TCF recruitment consultant John Morison said this meant he was now focused on servicing replacement positions. Morison operates two offices in Sydney and Melbourne under the Thread Hunters umbrella.

"New positions have definitely reduced in numbers but as always, positions in manufacturing, patternmaking and sales are always required," he said. "These are the productive resource roles that will keep a business in business."