Retail NZ, together with online social media platform TikTok, has launched an initiative to entice youth into retail careers.
The campaign, 7 Jobs in 7 Days, will feature social media influencers interviewing young retail leaders, showcasing various career pathways in the sector. Each will share their stories, career growth, and aspects of their jobs.
Carolyn Young, CEO at Retail NZ, said the organisation wants to change the narrative by improving the youth’s perceptions of retail careers.
“Each young person has a fantastic story to tell of how their career in retail has developed, from starting out on the shop floor to travelling internationally as a footwear buyer, moving into management, or discovering the opportunities available in marketing, and much more,” she explains.
The collaborative said the initiative is based on the outcome of research that identified one of the challenges in filling the shortage of workforce talent in retail is the perception that there is no career in retail beyond working on the shop floor.
“We are very grateful for the support we have received from retailers and the funding originating from ServiceIQ for this project, and we look forward to growing the interest in retail careers,” Young concluded.
Retail leaders featured in the interviews are:
- Laura Alice-Langridge, business performance and development manager from the Nelson Store Of Hunting & Fishing New Zealand.
- Omar Amiri, owner operator of Four Square Matakana (Foodstuffs).
- Rebe Cope, senior marketing coordinator from Barkers.
- Jordan Fainnga’anuku, group operations store support lead from The Warehouse Group.
- Corban Fray, marketing coordinator from Mitre 10.
- Lisa Stallard, buyer with Ngahuia Group, whose brands include Number One Shoes, Hannahs and Hush Puppies.
- Nina Ujdur, scan assist delivery lead and store manager trainee from Woolworths.
A new episode will be released on TikTok each day.
