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The Sylvia Park mega-mall, Newmarket's new Nuffield St precinct and Westfield's planned Albany mall are keeping the demand for retail staff high - even if that's not always reflected in pay rates.
The National Bank Business Outlook Survey reported gloom among retailers, with a net 24 per cent expecting profits to fall and a net 11 per cent expecting their own activity to decline.
But that hasn't translated to fewer jobs, says Ben Harman, managing director of retail recruitment agency Retailworld Resourcing. Indeed developments such as Sylvia Park means there are still more jobs than skilled people available to fill them.
"Good candidates get jobs quickly," Harman said. "When a good candidate comes to us the clients move quickly to get them."
Such people could be in a new job within three days, he said, and frequently would have multiple offers.
That mixed picture shows up in pay rates, with the latest Retailers' Association retail wages survey showing wage rates at the top end of the scale not even keeping up with inflation.
Wage rates for shop managers, for example, increased by only 2.8 per cent between January last year and this year, department managers by 2.5 per cent and assistant managers by just 1.9 per cent.
At the other end of the scale, wages for intermediate salespeople increased 3.4 per cent, grade one or entry level salespeople by 6.2 per cent and junior salespeople (aged 16-17) got a massive 7.1 per cent pay rise.
The average hourly rate for a shop manager who also buys is now $19.68, for a department manager is $17.75 and for an assistant manager is $15.82. Intermediate salespeople can now expect to earn around $12.76 an hour, entry-level salespeople average $11.31 an hour and junior salespeople earn $9.17 an hour.
The major reason for the large increases at lower levels was simply that most people in retail were employed on the shop floor, so that's where there was the most acute skills shortage, said Retailers Association chief executive John Albertson,
And while good candidates might be able to negotiate on pay rates when applying for a new job, Harman said, the real opportunities for increasing income, improving conditions or being offered new opportunities arose once they proved just how valuable they were.
"Once they are in the role, they will have people approaching them [offering new jobs] all the time."
To keep hold of those constantly head-hunted sales stars, employers had to adopt several different tactics, Harman said. Increasing the pay rate was obviously one, but just as important were incentives such as increasing the employee's level of responsibility to keep them motivated and interested, and providing a rewarding, stimulating work environment.
Bonuses and commission were one method of motivating people to perform better and feel valued and, "yes, they do work," said Harman.
But among the firms that responded to the Retailers' Association survey, only 10 per cent paid bonuses or commission. Rates varied from an average of $1.16 an hour for intermediate-grade administration staff to an average of $7.21 an hour for sales reps who visited clients and found new business.
Employers couldn't simply rely on financial incentives to keep good staff, said Harman. "Different people are motivated by different things."
The job of a good manager was to find out what motivated each individual, and then provide that.
Several areas, if handled badly, could cause staff dissatisfaction, but if handled well would improve morale and loyalty.
Weekend rostering was one example - even though weekends were generally retailers' busiest time and they wanted their sales stars working, it was good for morale to ensure everyone got one day of the weekend off.
Providing the necessary training in product knowledge and sales techniques, so staff felt they had the skills to achieve was also important, he said, as was providing the opportunity to gain formal qualifications.
And keeping staff up-to-date with what was happening in store through regular staff meetings - at least weekly, preferably daily - went a long way to making them feel valued.
Providing a clear career path to young, talented staff was also crucial to keeping them on board, said Albertson. Among large chains, historically there used to be a recognised, but slow, career path that saw talented sales people promoted first to assistant manager, then to store manager, district manager, then to head office, perhaps as a buyer.
But that took time and someone who was a good store manager "isn't necessarily going to make a good buyer", he said.
Employers needed to identify talented staff early, discuss where they wanted to be in a few years' time, and then provide them with a clear route into their preferred job, he said.
More young people were now viewing retail as a career, rather than as a stop-gap job, with an eye firmly on the highly skilled and high-paid corporate jobs available.
