Is Retail Facing a Digital Talent Hiring Problem?

Is digital talent hiring becoming a problem for the retail and fashion industries?

According to search firm 24 Seven Inc., one in four digital jobs in the fashion and retail industry have been left unfilled for five years or more, reflecting the challenges of recruiting, retaining and hiring digital talent.

“It’s a very disruptive time in the industry, and the competition for digital talent isn’t just between retailers and fashion companies,” Celeste Gudas, president of 24 Seven, told Women’s Wear Daily.

“It’s with Silicon Valley, Silicon Alley, pockets in other cities, Google and eBay, just to name a few. It’s not just that the competition is fierce, but in today’s market, everything is transparent. Retail and fashion companies really need to get a hold of talent management.”

Ms. Gudas’ comments came as 24 Seven’s 2013 Salary and Job Market Report found that 89 percent of digital talent say they’re open to making a career move within the next year. Salary tops the list of reasons to move with 72 percent of digital talent citing higher base salaries among their top reasons to change jobs, followed by better growth potential (51 percent), improved quality of life (34 percent) and better advancement opportunities (33 percent).

The 24 Seven report indicated that one issue is that the retail industry continues to offer traditional benefit packages (i.e., medical, dental, discounted merchandise, life insurance and 401k plans), but life balance benefits dominate the priorities for digital workers. Digital talent’s most desired benefits include: medical (76 percent); summer hours/comp days (33 percent); flex time/telecommuting (26 percent); 401k with match (17 percent); international travel (8 percent).

Ms. Gudas believes more competitive benefits offerings would particularly help in recruiting such talent. She said in a statement, “Retail leadership must consider each of their talent touch points — compensation, career development and traditional and soft benefits — to establish an attractive employment brand that drives job satisfaction and loyalty.”

The original article can be found here