Retailers find work for jobless

Retailers are joining forces to find work for the 1,800 people left jobless when Yaohan closed its department stores on Friday.

About 90 retailers and department stores had expressed interest in hiring former employees of Yaohan, which owns seven per cent of the Saint Honore cake shop chain, a Labour Department spokesman said.

Yaohan applied for liquidation on Thursday, with debts of $500 million. General store Jusco, Yaohan's arch-rival, said it had hired 30 former Yaohan workers in the past three days.