As the Australian economy transitions away from resources and towards service-based industries, clothing retailing is set to offer the fastest growth in employment.
This upward trend will commence in 2015/16 and over the next five years, according to business information firm IBISWorld.
The clothing retailing industry is a typically labour-intensive industry, as employees are required to stock shelves, provide customer service, process transactions and manage inventory.
Over the next five years, new technologies will improve productivity, increasing the use of casual workers.
Although advancements in technology reduce the reliance on staff to complete manual tasks, competition from online stores will lead many retailers to attempt to differentiate their brands by offering a superior level of customer service.
This will influence employment across the industry, which is expected to grow by 6.4% in 2015/16.
The number of employees varies across the clothing retailing industry depending on store size and levels of customer service.
Upmarket stores typically require a higher staff-to-customer ratio to provide superior service.
Employees’ average wages have increased as a result of the General Retail Industry Award, which was introduced in January 2010.
Although this award benefits employees, higher wage costs may lead some industry firms to limit the number of employees hired.
Most operators in the clothing retailing industry employ between one and 19 staff, and only 0.6% of industry enterprises employ more than 200 staff.
IBISWorld expects employment in the clothing retailing industry to continue to grow over the next five years, as state governments gradually deregulate trading hours.
This will allow shops to stay open longer, requiring more staff and boosting employee numbers.