The Best of BoF: The Future of Work Takes Shape

Unpredictability continued to define the workplace and talent landscape in 2022 even as fashion leaders moved to put more parameters around fuzzily defined areas like remote work, sustainability and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Lingering effects of “The Great Resignation” fueled a talent crunch in critical functions like supply chain, technology, environmental, social and governance, finance and human resources. A persistent labour shortage was felt most at retail stores and among early career professionals and, taken altogether, left fashion executives and human resources leaders yielding to salary demands and expectations around flexibility not seen before in the industry.

The tumult even reached the C-suite: Gap Inc.’s Sonia Syngal, MatchesFashion’s Paolo De Cesare and Lyst’s Chris Morton all exited their posts in the same week in July. They joined a long and rapidly growing list that included The RealReal and Under Armour, whose CEOs departed in June, and Glossier, whose founder stepped aside in May. Before that, executive transitions occurred at Chanel, Alexander McQueen and Versace.

Efforts to diversify hit major hurdles, as it became increasingly apparent that fashion companies rushed the creation of new DEI-focused roles following 2020′s social justice protests. On the hiring front, excitement around NFTs and the metaverse waned alongside cryptocurrency prices, although companies will continue to invest in roles related to product innovation and tech that improves the customer experience in stores and online.

With a recession potentially on the horizon, it remains to be seen whether fashion leaders will resist the temptation to pare down on talent investments and, instead, stay the course by prioritising functions that fortify their businesses for the future.

Advice From Fashion CEOs on Leading in a Recession: The pandemic aftermath, a lingering labour shortage and impending recession have created a challenging equation for leaders who must strike a delicate balance to come out ahead.

How to Know When Layoffs Are Coming — And What to Do About It: Fashion workers worried about their jobs amid an economic downturn should watch for warning signs and look for ways to transition their role if the worst happens.

Fashion’s In-Demand Jobs: Recruiters say interest in the metaverse is cooling, while brands look for candidates with the real-world expertise to navigate uncertain times.

What Will It Take to Make Gen-Z Happy at Work?: A shift in workplace power dynamics has companies struggling to balance their youngest employees’ expectations against the needs of their businesses.

Quiet Quitting, Labour Hoarding and Other Workplace Trends, Explained: The proliferation of catchy phrases to describe how people behave at work is the latest indication of the challenging climate for fashion firms and their employees.

Why Do Fashion’s Chief Diversity Officers Keep Quitting?: Dozens of companies hired diversity leaders in the last two years, but executives who take these roles are often overworked and under-resourced.

The Post-Pandemic CEO Shakeup: From Gap to MatchesFashion, fashion businesses are shaking up the top job, as the industry puts some of its Covid-era problems behind it and prepares for a new set of challenges, including an economic downturn.

Where are Fashion’s Black CEOs?: Vanishingly few big, established brands have appointed Black chief executives, even after two years of theoretically addressing racial injustice.