The food trade has had challenging times and probably also ahead of them. Nevertheless, it offers young people unparalleled career opportunities.
In a survey conducted by an independent market research institute in the spring of this year, 85 percent of all employees in the retail industry said they viewed their job as attractive – and the figure for apprentices was even 100 percent. Roughly the same number would recommend their current employer. “These are impressive figures,” says Rainer Will, managing director of the trade association.
Nevertheless, there is still a shortage of apprentices and employees. This can be largely attributed to a general shortage of apprentices and employees. In some cases, however, many searchers do not know that retail, and the food trade in particular, offers jobs with a future, prospects and opportunities for advancement like almost no other industry – and all of this in a pleasant and wholesome working atmosphere.
Career and advancement
For example, apprenticeships in retail are by far the most sought after apprenticeship among girls. In the food trade alone, around 2,300 girls and almost 1,700 boys are currently being trained – this puts the food trade alone in the top 5 of all apprenticeships. Prospective food trade apprentices have not just one, but many different professions available to them:
Retail clerk, e-commerce clerk, office clerk or operational logistics clerk are just a few of them. “And apart from that, careers and opportunities for advancement are a lived reality in the food trade,” the managing director of the trade association never tires of emphasizing: In many markets, former apprentices are increasingly taking over leadership.
Prepared for crises
Working in the food trade is not only promising and exciting, but can also be challenging at times: When the first restaurants closed in the wake of the corona pandemic in 2020 and public life fell fundamentally behind, supermarkets seemed to be the big winners of the crisis. Everyone stocked up on supplies and wanted to prepare for an unprecedented long time at home. Many people today forget the responsibility that weighed on the supermarkets and the fact that everything was not as rosy as expected: “The food trade was confronted with an unprecedented situation during this time,” remembers Rainer Will. “All in all, the many challenges were overcome well – including with the help of the armed forces.” Overall, the food trade can look back on turbulent years: the aforementioned corona pandemic was followed by supply chain problems, an explosion in energy costs and high inflation, all accompanied by a permanent shortage of personnel.
The largest employer
“Unfortunately, the sales development in recent years has not been able to keep up with the cost development,” summarizes Will. Due to the adjustments to collective agreements, personnel costs rose by 16 percent. Energy costs today are still a good third higher than in 2021. Index-linked rental costs have also increased in the meantime, while the interest burden has multiplied. At the same time, real sales fell by 3.2 percent in 2022 – and by another percent the following year. “This year there was an increase of 0.9 percent in the first half of the year, but we are still well below the values of 2021.” Overall, the food trade is not doing nearly as well as one would generally assume.
This also leaves its mark: the number of full-range supermarkets has fallen by 5 percent since 2010. Since then, more and more communities have been left without their own local supplier. This heralds a trend that should make the industry sit up and take notice: not least because retail itself is a job driver. 720,000 employees make it the largest employer in the country. 10,000 vacancies at the AMS also show that workers are still being sought – in an industry that is seen by employees as an attractive employer and also offers very good career opportunities.
Ready for the future
Nevertheless, there is still an acute shortage of apprentices in the food trade. “Retail companies are therefore making intensive efforts to recruit talented young people. Retail not only offers secure, well-paid jobs with the prospect of additional bonuses, but also the opportunity to develop yourself further, look into different areas and thus grow personally. Retail can also and especially meet the requirements of “Gen Z “: It offers everything you could wish for in terms of flexibility, work-life balance and the right to a meaningful job. In addition, training changes over time and young talents in the food retail industry are constantly faced with new challenges.
But Rainer Will knows: “There is no such thing as training that will give you the tools you need for the next 30 or 40 years of your working life.” What you can say with certainty, however, is that digital skills, communication talent, customer orientation and leadership skills are for both simple people Indispensable for employees as well as branch managers.
New ways
Apprenticeships are constantly being adapted to new needs. “One example is the previously mentioned e-commerce apprenticeship, which was introduced in 2018 on the initiative of the trade association and has developed into a success story.” 300 apprentices are currently undergoing this training, making it one of the most popular among the new apprenticeships . Future-oriented ideas that currently play a role mainly in niches will become increasingly relevant: “Digital tools and data analysis should be an integral part of training,” Will is certain. When it comes to sustainability, new trends will gain more and more space with zero-waste concepts, climate-neutral business practices and sustainable supply chains. And apprentices should “also be trained in the areas of customer communication, problem solving and conflict management, as personal contact remains an important component in the food trade”. First and foremost, training in the food trade should be designed to be practical, future-oriented and technology-oriented – so that in the future the food trade will continue to function as smoothly and organized as we are used to, especially in challenging times.
To person
Rainer Will has been managing director of the trade association since 2014.
Figures and facts
- 85 percent of employees in the retail industry find their job attractive.
- Around 4,000 apprentices are currently being trained in the food trade.
- 87 percent would recommend their current employer to others.
- 720,000 employees make retail the largest employer in Austria.
