While there’s still plenty of chatter about a coming recession, Paris based luxury conglomerate LVMH has reported it’s experiencing a record number of job vacancies. Describing a wide range of opening in an exchange with WWD, LVMH executive vice president of human resources Chantal Gaemperle said, “We have a record number of vacancies this year. We have 2,000 left to fill by the end of the year and we need leather goods workers, jewelers, watchmakers and sales associates, as well as hotel and restaurant workers. And if we project ourselves a little further out to 2024, we’re talking about 30,000 positions to be filled to ensure continuity.”
As part of recruitment efforts, the company has ramped up efforts to recruit talent, including a recruitment tour in five French cities and school programs, which has a goal of targeting 1,600 students under the age of 14.
LVMH has also released a documentary titled “Métiers d’Excellence, the Virtuous Circle” that retraces “key initiatives taken over the past 12 months to support and promote exceptional creative, craft and customer experience métiers [English: trades people].”
It’s telling that even a company as prestigious as LVMH is struggling to fill roles. Over the past several years but especially post pandemic, companies have struggled to fill service industry roles in retail and hospitality as workers have prioritized positions offering the ability to work from home at least part time. Meanwhile artisans more so than ever have opportunities to access an array of platforms to sell their wares direct to the consumer whether as a full time job or an income supplement.
