Difficult times as huge outlet struggles to fill vacancies Just weeks out from the opening of its new store in Macau, luxury retailer DFS Galleria is still recruiting staff. DFS's director of talent management Wilfred Wong described the situation as 'not ideal' and said it had been a difficult process. He said planning for the new store started two years ago and human resources had been by far the biggest problem. 'We have secured a number of positions already but we are not at our target of 350 employees,' Mr Wong said. 'At the moment we have about 300 people.' The DFS Group started in Hong Kong in 1960 and now has 150 stores in 14 countries, the majority in resort locations throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Situated in The Shoppes at the Four Seasons Hotel Macao, on the Cotai Strip, the new store will span 110,000 sqft and stock 110 luxury retail brands. Mr Wong said DFS placed strong emphasis on 'exceptional service' and all new employees would undergo at least 60 hours training in areas ranging from service to language and presentation. He said a specialist luxury retail training company from Europe had been employed to design a programme for staff. 'It will improve our service skills, brand knowledge and ability to deal with luxury customers.' He said senior managers had been recruited from other DFS stores to ensure strong leadership. He said managers would have to 'hit the ground running' and coach new recruits. 'We obviously wanted a great deal of experience in our senior team,' he said. 'After all we are talking about the branding of DFS.' The new store will include three themed retail sections, personal shoppers, a champagne bar, private transportation and VIP club membership. Mr Wong said the challenge to find staff had been made even more difficult by DFS's aim to have employees who speak a range of different languages. 'We have customers from all around the world and it is important that our staff can communicate with them,' he said. 'We offer basic language training for all staff, but we have been looking for people with a range of different language skills.'