Fast Retailing’s Uniqlo to turn over half of Japan part-timers into regular staff
March 28, 2014 Leave a comment
Fast Retailing’s Uniqlo to turn over half of Japan part-timers into regular staff
Wednesday, Mar 19, 2014
Reuters
TOKYO – Fast Retailing Co said on Wednesday it plans to turn just over half of its 30,000 part-timers at its Uniqlo casual clothing stores in Japan into regular staff over two to three years in a bid to secure stable employment.
Uniqlo has long suffered high turnover among part-time sales staff – a byproduct of a rigorous and lengthy training process that has helped it earn a reputation for first-rate store service.
The move by Uniqlo stands in contrast to the trend in Japan towards hiring more temporary and other irregular contract workers – a phenomenon that has pushed overall wages down and proved a hurdle for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plan to boost consumer spending and, by extension, the economy.
Fast Retailing said it has started interviewing candidates among its part-time sales staff in Japan for 16,000 regular jobs, including those who now work irregular shifts due to childcare or other personal reasons.
With plans to add more than 100 stores domestically by the end of the decade, Uniqlo will also recruit new graduates and mid-career workers.
Uniqlo said it did not expect a big rise in labour costs because it would be saving on spending for training.
The Fast Retailing group, whose other brands include Theory, Comptoir des Cotonniers and GU, had 23,982 regular employees as of August 31, 2013.
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