The report captures interviews from over 47 HR representatives across a spectrum of retail organizations, Central and State Government officials working for PwD welfare, NGOs and PwD individuals working in the retail space and found that manpower costs add up to more than seven percent of total costs in retail. At the same time, high levels of attrition in the industry negate the colossal investments made in recruiting and training employees. To compound the challenges, the need for a skilled workforce continues to grow unabated as the retail industry continues to expand. There is an imminent need for innovative ways to attract talent and retain it.
“Retail is the best industry to integrate Persons with Disability. It being the first mile of customer interaction, PwD gets a chance to interact with the end consumer and build on their confidence. On the other hand people in the society can clearly see the ability of the youth and the contribution that they can make to the society. Retail is a great industry to bring in inclusion.”asserted Mr. B S Nagesh, Founder, TRRAIN. Ms. Ameesha Prabhu, CEO, TRRAIN echoed his thoughts.
Ms. Meera Shenoy, Founder, Youth4Jobs further added, “This white paper developed by Pankh and Accenture partnership will go a long way to help create an eco-sphere where companies, governments and civil society organizations will come on board to mainstream hiring persons of disability in the retail industry.”
About Pankh, TRRAIN & Youth 4 Jobs Foundation:
PANKH – Wings of Destiny is an initiative by Trust for Retailers & Retail Associates of India (TRRAIN) and Youth 4 Jobs Foundation (Y4J). The initiative aims to train people with disabilities (PwD) and provide them employment opportunities in retail industry. The initiative thus aims to create sustainable livelihoods for PwD and also promote inclusive growth in retail sector.
TRRAIN is a public charitable trust formed in 2011 by Mr. B. S. Nagesh, with the vision of Empowering People in Retail and works to achieve immediate and lasting change in the lives of retail associates in India. We are solely committed to upgrading the lives of people in retail, both at work and at home.
TRRAIN has undertaken various initiatives to enable retail associates to upgrade their skills through TRRAIN Education Program and build pride and dignity through the TRRAIN Retail Awards and Retail Employees Day. TRRAIN’s initiative on building inclusive retail work force by training and employing People with Disabilities in Retail roles has received tremendous support from the industry.
Youth 4 Jobs Foundation, founded by MsMeeraShenoy, helps companies build an inclusive workforce. The team is pioneer in this sector with over a decade experience of working with governments, companies, and rural communities. Y4J expertise lies in working on the entire value chain of taking the youth from unemployment/underemployment to an organized sector job. This means identifying, motivating, training to demands of the market, inviting companies to recruit the youth and mentoring youth in their new work place
