The official Sector Skills Council for the local retail industry has warned that the sector shouldn't be seen as "an easy option" to get women to return to working life.

Following its latest research, Skillsmart Retail reported on the recent Northern Ireland retail boom, which has created many flexible and part time positions in the province.

The body believes that the government may have seen these jobs as a way of getting economically inactive mothers back into work, but claimed that its latest latest research counters this view, warning that working in retail can sometimes be problematic for women with families.

Tory Kerley, Manager for Northern Ireland at Skillsmart Retail, said: “There are a high number of economically inactive lone parents but they need additional support to get them back into work.”

The study, titled: ‘Issues relating to the employment of women in Northern Ireland’s retail sector,’ found that although the sector is relatively flexible, retailers are not always able to reorganise shifts to fit in with other caring responsibilities.

They were also generally unaware of salary sacrifice schemes to help pay for childcare and there were wider problems of training, with retailers sceptical of upskilling support the Government offers.

Mrs Kerley said: “Childcare is more expensive in Northern Ireland than other parts of the UK which means that if women do not have family support in childcare they cannot afford to work.

“There are schemes available to help them such as Childcare Vouchers and the New Deal, but there is not enough knowledge about them and they only work if the individual circumstances are right and they have family support.

“What we need is for the government to raise awareness of these schemes, help with childcare costs and accept that retail is not the easy option to get women back into the workforce," she said.

The report makes a number of recommendations for the government including developing guidance for employers and policymakers explaining the limits of flexible working in retail.

It also suggests producing a user-friendly guide for retailers about government initiatives and entitlements that would help retailers better understand the government help on offer.

For the industry, it recommends job sharing schemes, though there is recognition that there is a reluctance for employers to allow this kind of flexibility in more senior operational roles.

Skillsmart Retail is the Sector Skills Council for retail - the authority for UK retail skills development and promotion.

Part-funded by Government and led by retailers, it works with retailers of all sizes to understand their skills issues and develop solutions to improve business performance and productivity through the development of their people.

Retailing is Northern Ireland’s biggest private sector employer with over 90,000 employees or around 12% of all Northern Ireland jobs.

Skillsmart Retail predicts a continuing increase in this share with 14,000 new jobs created and 32,000 replacements required in the period 2004-2014.

See: www.skillsmartretail.com

(BMcC)