The domestic retail sector is expected to be the largest creator of jobs this year, according to a job survey conducted by Navigos Search, a leading provider of executive search and management consultancy services in Vietnam. The retail sector had the highest demand of recruitment among the country's industries in the first half of the year. The VinMart Supermarket Joint Stock Company, a retail brand of Vingroup, for example, plans to recruit about 10,000 people this year to prepare to open several new supermarkets, (WinMart) and VinMark+, nationwide. Quach Duc Tai, a human resources employee at VinMart, told Sai Gon Tiep Thi (Saigon Marketing), that this year the company had recruited nearly 4,000 people and it would offer over 6,000 employees by the year-end. Eighty percent of VinMart's new recruits would work as sellers and cashiers, and another 10 percent would work as managers, Tai said. In the first half of the year, Sai Gon Co.op, owner of the country's one of the biggest domestic supermarket chains, also recruited more than 700 people for various positions including sellers and managers. The company's PR manager Nguyen Tan Thanh said the company would offer additional 800 jobs for the rest of the year. "To ensure the quality of the company's staff, Sai Gon Co.op has built a centre specialising in training retail skills for both current and new employees," Thanh said. Since the beginning of the year, Lotte Mart Vietnam has also offered nearly 600 jobs, of which 12 percent were for high-ranking employees and 18 percent for mid- and low-level employees. The company would recruit additional 400 people by the year-end, according to Bui Thi Phi, human resources manager for Lotte Mart Vietnam. Business expansion Independent market observers said that major retailers were aggressively recruiting to serve their ambitious business expansion plans to fully exploit the huge potential of the domestic retail market. Nguyen Van Anh, Managing Director of Navigos Search, agreed, saying that the retail sector's human resources demand has risen because major retailers have already built their brands in the country and now want to expand their business. In 2014, VinMart outlined a plan to add 100 supermarkets and 1,000 convenience stores nationwide to its retail system by 2017 via new investment projects or mergers and acquisitions (M&A) projects. Tai of VinMart said that this year alone the company would open 50 new big supermarkets, with each having between 2,000 and 3,000 square metres, and 360 convenience stores nationwide. Of these, 16 supermarkets have opened in many provinces and cities, along with 20 convenience stores in HCM City. Meanwhile, the news website vnexpress.net quoted Hong Won Sik, General Director of the Lotte Vietnam Trading Centre Ltd Company, as saying that the company had promoted investment in its retail system in Vietnam because the local retail market held great potential, especially in rural areas. This year, Lotte Vietnam is scheduled to open three more supermarkets in Can Tho, Nha Trang and HCM City, he said. By 2020, the company plans to open 60 trading centres in Vietnam, and expects to be one of the leading retailers in the nation. Sai Gon Co.op will also increase its number of supermarkets by eight this year.-VNA