Facts about the retail sector
The list of facts in this section of the website have been selected because they provide interesting and important background information for any retailer who is considering introducing flexible workplace practices. The collection of facts has been put together using a number of highly reputable sources of information such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Every effort has been made to use the most recent figures available in May 2006.
Industry Demographics
- Retail employs more people than any other industry sector in Australia - that's 15% of all jobs.
- The retail industry is expected to grow by almost 30 000 jobs per year over the next five years.
- The retail industry is made up of three main segments, including food retailing, personal and household goods, and motor vehicle retailing and services.
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Employees
- In retail, there are more female employees than males — 799, 000 females to 713, 000 males.
- There is a high level of part-time employment (47%) and casual employment (45%).
- Of full time workers, a higher percentage are male (62%) than female (38%).
- Of part-time workers, 30% are male, 70% are female.
- The average hours worked per week is 42 hours for full-time workers and 15 hours for part-timers.
- The majority of retail workers (71%) have no post-school qualifications, with only 7% having acquired a bachelor degree or higher.
- Retail employees are younger than the average industry profile, with 40% of workers under age 25.
- The majority of retail employees work in sales, clerical and production roles, with 20% working as managers, administrators or in other professional roles.
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Profit Margins
- Labour costs for retail industry total $21.4 billion.
- Profit margins are the lowest of any industry.
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Retention and Recruitment
- The retail industry has 15% annual staff turnover , with an estimated annual cost of $397 million.
- Every time a full-time manager leaves it costs $10,800 to find a replacement.
- The estimated cost to retailers when non-managerial workers leave ranges from $3800 (full-time) to $2000 (part-time) to $1200 (casual).
- Despite these costs, only 1 per cent of retailers nominated staff retention as their most important people-management issue, compared with 64 per cent who nominated "attracting quality staff".
- Many retailers acknowledge that their staff leave because they lack control over their working hours.
- Almost 25% of all retailers believe that a major reason for staff leaving their company is to seek more supportive work/life conditions.
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Flexibility
- Nearly 30% of retailers report having no work-family initiatives at all.
- Half of all retail employees aged over 50 want more flexible work times so they can accommodate a range of family demands, with 43 per cent saying they do not have enough time with their family.
- Flexibility is more likely to be available to shop staff than shop management. Only 52% of shop managers having access to part-time work, as opposed to 93% of shop staff.
- Around 38% of shop managers have flexible start/finish times compared to 57% of shop staff.
- Only 4% of shop managers can have school term employment, as opposed to 37% of shop staff.
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Currently, in the retail industry
- 70% of employers provide family/carer leave
- 57% have flexible start/finish times
- 56% of retailers say their rosters are negotiable to cater to employees’ work/life situation
- 37% offer school term employment
- 27% have flexi-time
- 31% have implemented job share arrangements
- 14% have self-managed rosters
- 31% have implemented job-share arrangements
- 13% allow working from home
- 9% provide paid maternity leave.
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