English soap blamed for poor rag trade recruitment

NEW ZEALAND: Kiwi fashion leaders have blamed United Kingdom television show Coronation Street for the clothing manufacturing sector's difficulty in recruiting young staff.

According to a report published in Fairfax newspapers today (April 15), key rag trade participants say the show's underwear factory, which frequently shows often older and unskilled workers gossiping and trying to look busy, undermines their attempts to get young people into the trade.

Paul Adriaens, the joint managing director of Christchurch-based firm Cotura Fashions - which is distributed across Australia - said recruitment problems left him with an ageing workforce. His womenswear company employs about 20 people to make clothes but has very few young people applying for roles with his business as Coronation Street is about the "only thing" young people see of the industry.

"If you have a 17-year-old coming into the factory and working with someone who is the age of their mother or grandmother, it is a dynamic which can be hard to get into," Adriaens said. 

Apparel and Textile Industry Training Organisation chief executive John Dorgan agreed.

Dorgan said for every great design that ended up on the catwalk there were probably "four or five" very skilled people who helped make it.

"The image needs changing. People need to learn that it is not like Coronation Street and there are very good opportunities and career paths."