Rich pay, rich clients, but luxury retail jobs go begging

Working on the sales floor for the likes of Burberry or Celine, surrounded by the latest season's outfits and HK$60,000 must-have handbags, may appear glamorous - but in Hong Kong even the world's most famous fashion houses are struggling to recruit and retain retail staff.

Despite enticing pay cheques, with junior sales associates earning as much as HK$50,000 a month, working in retail is viewed as a young person's game, with little prestige, difficult clientele and shift work.

Meanwhile, the demand for luxury goods from mainland shoppers over the past decade has simply outstripped the local retail talent pool.

"If you add up all the new hotels and the new shopping malls in the past few years, you realise that there is a huge increase, and it's pretty obvious that you're going to have a shortage," said J.B Aloy, an employee research veteran with market research firm Ipsos.

Based on government projections of the number of tourists in the next few years, "this is just going to get worse", Aloy said.

Hays recruitment consultant Eddie Chui, who specialises in hiring managers for luxury stores, said most major luxury brands faced the same problem.

"Matching [candidates with a company] isn't the most difficult; rather it's that [the job seekers] have too many options," Chui said.