With organised retail’s movement into tier II and III towns, the employment and growth opportunities in the sector are growing rapidly.
”The growth opportunity in retail sector is tremendous with annual growth rate in excess of 30 per cent, emergence of 1,000 malls and 2,000 hypermarkets, and more than 6,000 supermarkets and convenience stores,” said Asit Mohapatra, senior vice president, HR, Reliance Retail Limited, while addressing a national conference of Executive Recruiters Association (ERA) on Changing Face of Human Capital in India.
The organised retail industry in India is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28 to 32 per cent from 2007 to 2020, to reach 35 to 40 per cent share of total retail consumer spending in India.
“AT Kearney ranked India as the most attractive retail market in its 2007 Global Retail Development Index report. The present organised retail share is five per cent, which is equal to 12.4 billion US dollars. An estimated 35 per cent of new retail space coming up in the next two years will be in medium and small towns,” said Mohapatra.
Mohapatra highlighted the issue of attracting and retaining talent. He said, “Today, attracting and retaining talent is a key challenge. Emerging sectors like retail face more challenges in this regard, which calls for a focused approach in talent acquisition and retention in retail segment in India. In the recent past, major players have entered the organised retail segment in India. Reliance, Tata, Aditya Birla and Future Group are opening a lot of avenues for employment.”
– Bangalore Bureau
