Bridging the Talent Gap

We’re constantly hearing from fashion organisations that they are struggling to find the right candidates for roles requiring specialist skill sets. Having ridden out more than one downturn, we have seen this recruitment cycle in the past. During recession many people leave the industry, moving to different sectors. While companies streamline to survive, internal development of staff takes less of a priority so skills are not being improved and new talent is not being grown. This means that as the economy improves and businesses flourish again there is a severe shortage of candidates in many key areas.

A recent study, conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, discovered that more than four-fifths of organisations found an increase in competition for talent, while more than three-quarters had experienced recruitment difficulties in the past year, citing a lack of specialist or technical skills. The vast majority described the current jobs market as candidate driven. This means that businesses have to do more to attract the best candidates, streamline their recruitment process, remain closely in-touch with candidates throughout, and act swiftly to ensure they are a highly desirable employer brand. Although, this can only done once candidates have been attracted and are on-board with the recruitment process.

Therefore, more than ever, it is essential to use strategic search methods to ensure vacancies and brand values are delivered to the very best talent in a professional and direct manner. It is imperative to seek out and approach ‘soft’ candidates i.e. those that are not actively looking, not reading job boards, and not registered with recruitment firms. This is where the search methodology, that underpins everything we do at LIFE, comes into its own to help fashion brands build the optimum team.

Celebrating 10 years of LIFE

As LIFE celebrates ten years of providing recruitment solutions to the best fashion brands in the world, what springs to mind is that great French epigram, ‘plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose’; ‘the more it changes, the more it’s the same’.

In marking our tenth anniversary we have a great new look for LIFE, we’ve created this shiny new website and branding. We’ve also invested in new back-end software that allows us to probe deeper in sourcing candidates digitally, makes us more time efficient, and offers clients interactive options to feed back directly onto our systems. All this allows us to react more dexterously to their needs. However, what has really set LIFE apart for the past ten years is the ability to understand brands, learn what clients need by building lasting partnerships, and digging deeper than any social media, advertising or digital sourcing can achieve. We do this by tapping into our close personal relationships to find talent that’s off the conspicuous radar. That hasn’t changed.

We strategically and carefully welcome new brands into the LIFE portfolio by ensuring they don’t conflict with existing customers. As a business that’s founded on search it’s essential to be able to source talent from our clients’ competitors unhindered. However, an analysis of our current business shows that more than 50% of what we’re delivering is with clients who were with us in year one! Despite the tumult of the past decade it’s great that these partnerships have remained consistent.

Our industry is global in terms of distribution and sourcing, but also staffing. LIFE constantly searches beyond British shores for relevant talent. Our home-grown luxury brands have been blossoming. This growth often benefits from the technical skills that can be brought in from more mature markets such as Italy or France. However, once more the fashion industry is poised for uncertainty as we experience the economic repercussions of Brexit. In facing this unknown change, one thing remains the same as in past periods of uncertainty, somehow the industry talent pool diminishes and it is ever more challenging to find skilled employees. This will be exacerbated if it becomes more difficult to move talent from Europe. Therefore, it’s even more key right now to invest in finding the best staff for your business and putting incentives in place to keep them! LIFE has been helping some of the best global fashion brands do just that for the past decade. We're ready for whatever the next ten years has to throw at us, and here to ensure you are too.