A.S. Watson Group looks to add 200,000 jobs by 2030

International health and beauty retailer A.S. Watson Group has committed to providing 200,000 job openings for young people globally by 2030. The pledge is to give young people from all over the world the opportunities, skills and experiences to equip them for the fast-changing business landscape and kickstart their career in retail.

The jobs will span different areas of the business, including working in stores, at head office and in distribution, and the roles are multi-disciplinary from customer service specialist, to marketing, digital development, eCommerce, analytics, finance, and sustainability, to name a few.The transformation of retailing at A.S. Watson, which sets the new standard of O+O (Offline plus Online) integrated retail platform, the range of job nature and opportunities has widely expanded.

A.S. Watson has been investing in a range of people development programmes that combine on-the-job learning with further education. In Asia, the A.S. Watson Retail Academy was the first local retail academy in Hong Kong since 2018.  “The retail management programme has given me much more than a qualification. It’s given me a new outlook on my career. Not only am I learning from the world leader in O+O retail, I feel privileged to be able to be a part of it and make it even better day by day,” says Roy Tsang, a graduate of the A.S. Watson Retail Academy who is currently sales operations manager of Watsons Hong Kong.

Furthermore, A.S. Watson has created the “Next Gen” sustainability committee, made up of 18 GenY/ GenZ team members from across 12 operating markets in Asia and Europe, who works with the company’s global sustainability committee to accelerate the progress on sustainability and help create a better world.

Parkson Tseung, group people director (Asia) of A.S. Watson Group, said: “We all have a responsibility to nurture the next generation. What young people need is more companies opening doors to them and offering them a platform to prove their abilities. A.S. Watson is proud to provide more and better opportunities so that young people see hope in their future amid uncertainties in the world economy. The pandemic has made it difficult for young people to start their career with limited exposure to the workplace. Through these jobs, we are not just empowering them to be more confident and competent but also strengthening our business by listening to the voice of the next generation.”

Joanne Mackie, group people director (Europe) of A.S. Watson Group, added: “Young people are an important source of talents and creativity; by developing their skills, we can make our business stronger and fitter for the future. We are not only offering job opportunities, we’re also providing training and coaching to give young people the skills they need to work in the new world of O+O retail. We plan to provide five million training hours specifically for youth in our global workforce to embrace the future. We look forward to 200,000 talented young people joining us between now and 2030 to help fuel the sustainable growth engine for A.S. Watson.”

Kayleigh Arnold, who began as an apprentice and is now a Superdrug assistant store manager, said: “The Apprenticeship Programme has been transformational and eye-opening for me, helping me understand modern roles in retail. I’m proud to have been given so many valuable opportunities at Superdrug. Having retail as my first job has turned out to be an extremely rewarding experience.” In the Netherlands, Kruidvat offers students in vocational education the chance to gain practical experience as an accredited workplace for internship, working or learning. Approximately 1,400 apprentices join this programme every year.

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