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“We are delighted with the early success of this programme, which is fulfilling our goal of addressing the needs of luxury retailers to best serve their Mandarin-speaking clientele while also helping to generate employment and enhanced economic opportunities for unemployed and underemployed immigrants in the US.“ |
Chantal Gaemperle EVP Human Resources and Synergies LVMH |
USA. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton is extending its ‘LVMH Fundamentals in Luxury Retail’ programme, offered in partnership with the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) and New York’s Parsons School of Design, through 2015. Two additional sessions will be held this year, with the first to begin end March.
The programme was designed to impart a wide range of retail skills to bilingual English and Mandarin speakers, including those who are unemployed and underemployed and individuals who have recently immigrated to the US, and aims to help them to gain employment in the luxury retail sector. It is supported by The Robin Hood Foundation, New York’s largest poverty-fighting organisation.
The extension of the programme follows the success of three courses offered in 2014. According to LVMH, more than 90% of enrolled participants completed the course and over 70% of graduates had immediate job placement, with a substantial increase in hourly wages. “This makes it the most successful training programme in terms of placement rate and wage growth within its first year in the CPC’s 40-year history of providing workforce development programmes in New York City,” LVMH noted.
“We are delighted with the early success of this programme, which is fulfilling our goal of addressing the needs of luxury retailers to best serve their Mandarin-speaking clientele while also helping to generate employment and enhanced economic opportunities for unemployed and underemployed immigrants in the US. The goals of this programme reflect a greater focus within LVMH of establishing creative, innovative initiatives across our group that enable us to make a positive and enduring impact on society,” said LVMH Group Executive Vice President Human Resources and Synergies Chantal Gaemperle.
Believed to be the first of its kind in the industry, the ten-week education and training programme includes classroom education at Parsons, led by professors from the school, LVMH professionals and CPC Workforce staff, followed by an internship programme at a retail store of one of the LVMH Group brands.
Chinese-American Planning Council CEO David Chen commented: “We had high expectations for the Fundamentals in Luxury Retail programme, and to date they have been wonderfully surpassed. The programme is providing participants with an exceptional range of skills and knowledge that has and will continue to serve them well in finding employment and embarking on exciting career paths. We are delighted with the results already being achieved and the near and longer term impact they will have.”
Parsons Executive Dean Joel Towers said: “Our core mission for this programme and partnership has been to bring design education to those who may not have had access to it with the goal of positive, social change. The programme participants have been deeply engaged and clearly committed to learning and putting their new knowledge to work. We are delighted by the programme’s track record to date and the opportunity to see it continue.”
Robin Hood Programme Officer Christine AuYeung added: “From its earliest days, we recognised that Fundamentals in Luxury Retail had the potential to offer unemployed and underemployed members of an important immigrant community in New York City – mainly individuals from China who are fluent in Mandarin and English – with the training and skills that help them find employment and build careers. It is a very innovative and successful programme that has yielded great benefits for those involved, and we are glad to provide support as it continues in 2015.”
Recruitment for the 2015 programme has begun, and the first cohort will start on 30 March. The programme is open to bilingual English and Mandarin speakers, who are legally able to work in the US, are underemployed or unemployed with a high school diploma or its equivalent, and are passionate about fashion and retail.
For more information about eligibility and enrollment, contact CPC’s Workforce Development Division at +1 (212) 941-0041 or visit https://www.cpc-nyc.org/.
