Avrasya Uluslararası Araştırmalar Dergisi

Abstract

Today, the Turkish ready-wear industry is undergoing a transformation process from a
contract manufacturing to full package manufacturing. The most important input in the
production of ready-wear is undoubtedly the labor force. For this reason, the success of the
transformation process is possible by meeting the qualified personnel needs of the industry. In
this study, labor force requirement of the Turkish ready-wear industry is examined. Qualitative
research method is used in this study. Job adverts on ready-wear industry are investigated on
www.kariyer.net which is Turkey’s largest human resources website. Firstly the job positions
which are most needed by the ready-wear industry and then the characteristics required for
candidates for these positions are determined. The obtained data are subjected to frequency
and percentage analyzes in the SPSS 21.0 program. According to the result of the research; the
most needed personnel positions of Turkish ready-wear enterprises are "stylist", "merchandiser"
and "sales consultancy" respectively. It has also been found that ready-wear enterprises are
primarily seeking communication skills and suitability for teamwork from the personnel who will
work in these positions. The main problem for ready-wear enterprises is to meet the need for
personnel from outside the production area such as merchandiser, sales consultant, because
enterprises request professional knowledge as well as marketing knowledge from
merchandisers and sales consultants. However, the marketing knowledge is given in the
marketing programs and the professional knowledge is given in the professional departments in
Turkey. This situation leads to the loss of time and money since firms have to give profesional
tranings to the marketing graduates for merchandiser position. The opposite of this case is also
true; the staff with professional knowledge also needs marketing knowledge. Therefore, the
ready-wear enterprises need vocational training education institutions which give both
marketing and profession training to meet the labor force requirements of sales representatives
and sales consultants. Because, in all the researches and studies carried out, it is emphasized
that the contribution of education is important and the quality of labor force should be improved
through education.