Wanted: new colleagues

FMB (Fédération des Magasins de Bricolage), the French DIY retail organisation, has launched an initiative aimed at making careers in DIY superstores more attractive. A first step in this direction involved increasing the minimum wage at the beginning of 2003. The second component consists of further development of professional training and recognition of qualifications. The organisation intends in addition to promote more strongly the recruitment of school leavers into the DIY retail sector in future. A similar initiative was recently introduced by the German BHB association within the framework of Practical World in Cologne. At present the 2 176 DIY superstores recorded by the FMB in France have approximately 62 000 employees, around 40 per cent of whom are women.