Health Stores Ireland is supporting the Savejobs Campaign, launched by an alliance of business representatives on March 12th.
The campaign has opened an online pledge on www.savejobs.ie calling on the Irish government to offer better representation for SME business groups at the decision table. It is calling for a more sustainable increase of the minimum wage (up 12.4% in Ireland in 2024) to a targeted living-wage rate and a switch of some of the social and labour costs from SME employers back to government.
“THE HEALTH FOOD SECTOR HAS ALWAYS BEEN A RELATIVELY HIGH WAGE SECTOR WITH A HEAVY FOCUS ON LIFESTYLE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE RATHER THAN COSTS. A NOTABLE SQUEEZE ON MARGINS MEANS THAT THIS MAY NEED TO CHANGE”
Health Stores Ireland secretary, Alan McGrath, is a member of Ireland’s national SME association, ISME national council who are coordinating the campaign. He said: “Our members are feeling the pressure around increasing labour and social costs. The health food sector has always been a relatively high wage sector with a heavy focus on lifestyle and customer service rather than costs. A notable squeeze on margins means that this may need to change. Health food retailers are seeing a very concerning rate of closures among cafes, restaurants and other specialist retailers in shopping and town centres, and this is having a notable effect on consumer confidence and footfall.”
