The Retail Rebound
- 08 Jun 2021
- client
- 2021
What a turbulent 18 months the property market has experienced with COVID –19, arguably accelerating the change within the retail property landscape forever. Let us quickly go back to the start of 2020, where each week was feeling quite dire with the number of both high profile Australian and international retailers announcing that they were sadly closing their doors. Unintentionally creating a blanket of general angst and level of pressure across the shopping centre industry.
March 2020 COVID is here, and with the world coming to a sudden halt, so did all forms of staffing and recruitment need within all areas of retail and shopping centres. We saw widespread redundancies in all types of developer firms, landlords, major retailers, and agencies across the country.
Some clients felt the need to make more widespread changes, whilst others utilised this time to be more strategic around their current team structure. That said, optimism was sparse, and it was a challenge advising and providing guidance to valued candidates on the market and where their next opportunity may come from.
Fast forward a year and thankfully the situation could not be more different. We noticed that the job flow was beginning to improve in October’20 which has now resulted into a 300% uptick in the number of retail roles we’re managing, with a prediction that only 10% of redundancies from 12 months ago haven’t secured another role.
The recovery has happened for the following reasons:
• Revenues were not as dire as the initial projections at the start of the pandemic.
• An increase in temporary and interim contracts being offered to immediately available candidates.
• More agility and flexibility around rental agreements which has helped reduced vacancies.
• An appetite for seasoned experienced talent is in demand.
• Diversified groups still demonstrating strong performance in other divisions.
• Changing of guard, meaning new teams are being built and developed
• Businesses have taken the time to reevaluate their propositions to the market through work life flexibility, better structured remuneration and offering more security to the market.
In years ahead, we forecast the Australian talent and recruitment market will continue to be strong across the retail landscape. We are encouraging clients to be agile, flexible, and more open to the types of skillsets in talent and the ways in which they can value in an ever-changing environment. This will attract a wider variety of candidates and ultimately add more diversity and capability to pre-covid teams.
For a confidential discussion regarding new opportunities or the retail market please reach out to Erin Dixson from Redpath Partners.
Mobile: 0431 682 311
Email: erin@redpathpartners.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-dixson/
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