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More jobs were always expected with 100 per cent FDI in single brand retail. But salary boosts for retail employees could be another windfall.
With the entry of more international retailers, shop floor level employees, among the least paid in the retail sector, can look forward to wage hikes, say industry experts.
According to Mr Gurpreet Khanna, Director & CEO, Institute for Excellence in Services and Planning, “Salaries at the shop level were never that high but with the entry of more single brand retail brands, salaries are expected to go up. Front end executives can command salaries up to Rs 18,000 per month as the high end single brand stores at malls would be willing to pay that kind of money today compared to Future Group's Big Bazaar outlets which today pay salaries as low as Rs 6,000 at the shop level.''
At the ground level, employees generally join a retail chain as sales executives and then move up as store managers. According to Mr Ninad Karpe, CEO & Managing Director, Aptech, “With FDI in single brand retail, there will be demand for good talent at the shop floor level and there should be a dramatic rise in salaries. Today a shop floor employee would command between Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000 and there are soft skills required for the job which would include knowledge of English.”
Training to step up
Anticipating more demand in the sector, training institutes in retail are already gearing up to enhance the quality of staff at the shop level.
Take Aptech, which has recently announced a tie up with TRRAIN(Trust for retailers and retail associates of India) to train employees who are already working at the shop level in modern retail stores in cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad.
It aims to train 20,000 retail personnel in three years charging Rs 900 for 18 classes in retail locations like malls and high street.
Says the founder of TRRAIN, retail veteran, Mr B.S Nagesh, “Apart from providing retail skills, there would also be English classes imparted, which would cost as low as Rs 49 for an hour. There are 32 million employed in retail today. Out of this, 6 lakh people are working in modern retail stores.”
According to Mr Nagesh, the company would be targeting employees at the shop level between the ages of 18 to 25 years. A pilot for the training programme has already been done at the Inorbit Mall in Malad.
Jobs
It is estimated that FDI in retail is expected to create over 10 million jobs in the next three years and training institutes have been busy upgrading their courses to suit the needs of the retail industry.
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