Q: What was the biggest change to your sector in 2011?
Sue Di Chio
Who in the Zoo director
2011 was an interesting year in terms of the recruitment landscape and what key trends took precedence. As a service provider and to remain a valued resource to our clients we need to stay ahead of these trends and ensure that we tap into these markets, connect with the new game changers and introduce this new breed of talent to our clients to help facilitate their growth strategy and remain competitive. Although not new, 2011 saw an increase in the demand of On line Retail experts, the onslaught of overseas e-retail giants hitting Australian Shores this year forced most clients to get online or miss the high speed train. This immediate growth demand for Digital Marketing Managers, Digital Designers, Social Media Guru’s, Content Managers, SEO & SEM Managers also saw a shortage of talent within the area. Thankfully a robust Australian economy (in comparison to Europe) and attractive living conditions assisted in drawing overseas talent where etailing is better established. With digital technology moving at a rapid pace its kept the Gen Y generation gainfully employed, enabling them to move swiftly through the ranks to senior posts. 2011 has also been the year of great change and restructure for most businesses. Now more than ever companies have really had to pare back and pinpoint their focus. Restructure brings with it redundancies, but it hasn’t all been doom and gloom. As key players close their doors they present opportunities for their competitors to capture market share. Which can be a great time for some to gain exceptional talent from their competitors, which brings acquisition of intellectual property, knowledge, and new key relationships. So as 2011 draws to a close , its been a year of assessment, strategy, restructure and a renewed focus on the future of trading in the fashion industry.
Marc Wijner
Logwin Red Carpet Logistics spokesman
It has been a challenging year for everyone in the logistics sector as the economic downturn has resulted in reduced demand in key markets such as Europe and the US. There has been a restructuring of supply chains in the fashion industry as our customers are increasingly looking to Asia’s consumer markets for growth. Traditionally Asia has been the centre for manufacturing a wide range for fashion and lifestyle products for the US and European markets. Now we also see a dramatic increase in demand for warehousing and transport services within the emerging markets in Asia, for premium European and US Fashion + Lifestyle products. We also see Asian premium brands expanding their sales outside of Asia. As a result we are looking to expand our network and service offering across the region to better reach leading fashion brands in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mainland China as well as Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Australia and beyond. We have just launched ‘red carpet logistics’ in Kuala Lumpur as the first step in an Asia-wide roll out of the premium fashion logistics product.
The service will focus on the transportation of high-end labels in and out of Asia, with dedicated facilities also online in Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai. We believe that handling logistics at the top end of the fashion business is a niche market with complex requirements. The products need a specific service because they do not have the ability to generate profits from volume. Their real value lies in their exclusivity.
Lisa Hovar
Queensland retailer
I live in QLD and own a small maternity wear retail store. The new QLD legislation relating to outworkers [ which commenced January 1, 2011] has just been beyond belief. Every time I receive a delivery of Australian Made goods from a supplier, I have to complete a form and the supplier in turn has a form to complete and the factory they use has a form to complete. Most my suppliers are in VIC and NSW. Most refuse to comply. So I spend hours a week filing in and emailing forms that will never be returned to me. I carefully attach each incomplete form to each invoice and file, never to be seen again by any authority unless they choose to audit me. The only form that has to be submitted to the government and unions is Form 1 and that is done on a six monthly basis and has bugger all info on it so I just don’t see the point. We waste precious hours as retailers, none of the suppliers comply and the authorities don’t get the information they require to protect the outworkers. Wouldn’t it make more sense to approach the suppliers or factories directly? What do we retailers have to do with it. I have yelled and screamed to any authority that will listen and have several other businesses doing the same thing. I agree with protecting the outworkers but the way they are going about it is just plain dumb. It won’t work!
2011 was an interesting year in terms of the recruitment landscape and what key trends took precedence. As a service provider, and to remain a valued resource to our clients, we need to stay ahead of these trends and ensure that we tap into these markets, connect with the new game changers and introduce this new breed of talent to our clients to help facilitate their growth strategy and remain competitive. Although not new, 2011 saw an increase in the demand of online retail experts. The onslaught of overseas etail giants hitting Australian shores this year forced most clients to get online or miss the high speed train. This immediate growth demand for digital marketing managers, digital designers, social media gurus, content managers, and SEO & SEM managers also saw a shortage of talent within the area. Thankfully, a robust Australian economy (in comparison to Europe) and attractive living conditions assisted in drawing overseas talent from where etailing is better established. With digital technology moving at a rapid pace, its kept the Gen Y generation gainfully employed, enabling them to move swiftly through the ranks to senior posts. 2011 has also been the year of great change and restructure for most businesses. Now more than ever, companies have really had to pare back and pinpoint their focus. Restructure brings with it redundancies, but it hasn’t all been doom and gloom. As key players close their doors, they present opportunities for their competitors to capture market share. Which can be a great time for some to gain exceptional talent from their competitors, which brings acquisition of intellectual property, knowledge, and new key relationships. So as 2011 draws to a close, it has been a year of assessment, strategy, restructure and a renewed focus on the future of trading in the fashion industry.