Stability and quality of employment in the retail sector

The retail sector has become a major service provider and employs a largeproportion of the population. It is the expectations and of these retail employeesthat form the background to this research. Retail employment has often beenthe selected response to unemployment as there is relatively little or no priorskill required to work in this sector. Retail employment is traditionally viewed asemployment with little or no stability and low quality of employment. In order toexamine the link between high growth in the retail sector and its contribution toGDP and the high unemployment rate identified in the country, the stability andquality of employment in the retail sector were analysed. The research aimed to identify the characteristics of retail employees based onwhere they are currently along their career path and life choices, and how thesefactors influence their future aspirations. A conceptual framework outlining thestability and quality of employment in the retail sector was created to analysethe shift required from the prevalent emphasis on fighting unemployment, tofostering employment growth. The different characteristics of these employees were identified in order toassist stakeholders such as individuals, management and policymakers, toidentify the optimum way to encourage employment growth, depending onfuture aspirations of employees. This would thereby shift the focus rather fromacting reactively to unemployment issues, to acting proactively by nurturingemployment growth. Copyright © 2008 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Bhoola, R 2008, Stability and quality of employment in the retail sector, MBA dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-04232010-125510/ > G10/324/ag