Jobs in Fashion | BoF

Companies rushing to find employees in the virtual world have little interest in hiring for those roles because they face a very real economic downturn.

Across all industries, job postings with the title “metaverse” fell 81 percent between April and June, Bloomberg reported, citing a study by workplace consultant Revilio. Fashion is no exception: while brands are still launching many Web3 and Metaverse projects, overall enthusiasm seems to have waned along with NFT and cryptocurrency prices.

Fashion brands still rely on external partners to build virtual storefronts and fashion shows. But as many companies—Puma, Adidas, Kenzo, and Gucci among them—create brand channels on Discord, a messaging platform popular with Web3’s early adopters, there may be staffing needs in roles such as community managers and, eventually, some virtual salespeople. Experts say.

But these days, hiring priorities are shifting to roles that help companies navigate near-term uncertainty, supply chain manipulation, new environmental regulations or changing demands from socially conscious consumers.

Diversity and inclusion managers and environmental, social and management consultants, once a rare fashion, are growing fields, especially at large companies. More traditional positions in supply chain and human resources are evolving rapidly.

“Companies are starting to flex on what roles and capabilities can drive long-term strategy for us and put us through some of the economic uncertainty,” said Lisa Bukus, partner at Hannold Associates and head of retail. and the practice of luxury goods.

Here, BoF breaks down the most sought-after fashion trends of the season.

Environmental, Social and Governance (or ESG) compliance

For most of the past two decades, ESG has been an increasingly important but obscure topic. Each company had its own ideas on how to prioritize issues related to environmental impact and human rights.

Governments in North America and Europe are enacting a growing number of laws aimed at strengthening abusive practices in the fashion supply chain and putting real teeth behind environmental standards. The Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act (UFLPA), which went into effect in the US in June, prohibits goods made from forced labor in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region from entering the US. In the UK, the regulator Competition and Markets Authority launched sustainability inquiries into fast fashion brands Boohoo, Asos and British supermarket chain Asda’s clothing label George in July.

Sarah Orr, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Chicago, said fashion brands are scrambling to hire lawyers for their in-house teams.

Whether in-house or abroad, legal advisors can advise on ESG reporting and disclosure requirements, conduct litigation risk analysis, assist in responding to shareholder activism, and identify potential human rights issues or environmental risks in the supply chain. Companies looking to increase their ESG expertise will add point people in HR, communications, marketing and other areas to address the legal team’s recommendations, Orr said.

Currently, Authentic Brands Group, parent company of Nautica and Juicy Couture, is hiring an ESG Director (on LinkedIn), PVH Corp. ESG Communications requires a Senior Director (professional position) and Saks Fifth Avenue is recruiting for sustainability. Director post seeking undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies (on LinkedIn).

Supply chain and logistics

Ongoing port disruptions, product shortages, economic and geopolitical tensions, as well as consumer expectations around fast transportation have helped put the supply chain – and the roles of logistics, systems and operations that support it – in the forefront of fashion companies.

Inna Kuznetsova, CEO of ToolsGroup, a global supply chain planning and optimization firm, said, “I can’t think of a more important role right now than supply chain managers and operations managers.”

Nordstrom named its first chief supply chain officer early last year, Revlon hired a new CSCO amid snarls in 2021 and luggage brand Away added its first chief operating officer that same year. All three companies pointed to the need to put the weight of the C-suite behind the growing logistics challenges.

“In the past, when stores were the main driver of retail sales, supply chains were more of an office function,” said Kyle Rudy, an executive recruiting partner at Kirk Palmer Associates. “Globalization and technology have changed that.”

Fashion companies are hiring for support jobs such as operations managers, merchandising planners, shipping and logistics specialists and pricing and promotion specialists, Kuznetso said.

The demand for supply chain management professionals (or logistics professionals) is expected to grow by 30 percent from 2020 to 2030, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Kate Spade is currently hiring for Materials Development Coordinator and Materials Manager (via CareerBuilder), Under Armor is seeking a Senior Materials Developer for Apparel & Accessories (via CareerBuilder), Luxottica for Supply Chain Analyst (via CareerBuilder), and Gucci Supply Chain, according to the career website. Needs a VP.

Areas such as materials and product developers that can help advance a company’s sustainability efforts are getting new attention, says Janu Pakter, executive founder of New York-based Janu LLC.

“We’re constantly seeing places where people are reaping the rewards of working with amazing new sustainable materials,” she said. “[Being able to source] These materials and all these different fabrics – these are incredibly warm and important.

Human resources and diversity, equity and inclusion

New employee expectations around flexibility, remote work, and employer-supported mental health, combined with consumer demand for organizations to have progressive policies that prioritize issues like diversity and inclusion and social responsibility, have all helped make HR roles and responsibilities more complex — and in demand — than ever before.

The turmoil of the past two years, including the pandemic, economic uncertainty, social justice protests and the so-called Great Resignation, means some top HR leaders “may not be as stupid as the world needs them to be right now,” Rudy said.

The result was a high turnover among senior leaders, but also new opportunities for companies to “improve” their HR departments and “prioritize talented and diverse candidates.”

Hiring needs range from senior HR leaders to generalists and coordinators, with Gucci currently hiring for a “People Operations Coordinator,” Balenciaga seeking an HR Generalist on LinkedIn and Kering eyewear hiring for a North American HR Manager on its job site.

When it comes to DEI practice in particular, fashion companies — from Kering to PVH Corp. to Nike and Lululemon — have added diversity leaders to the C-suite over the past two to four years. But the diversity officer role itself has become controversial because of high turnover and complaints that these executives are often too busy and under-resourced.

Faced with renewed pressure to put greater resources behind DEI goals, companies are beginning to ramp up their DEI efforts — giving DEI executives more resources to hire junior and middle-level managers and directors to help deal with the complexities of the task, Bukus said.

Like J.Crew and Tiffany & Co. Existing companies have recently added diversity managers. Condé Nast is currently seeking a Director of Diversity & Inclusion, Farfetch is seeking a Senior Manager of Diversity & Inclusion and Nike is hiring a Business Diversity & Inclusion Analyst on LinkedIn.