Young people today know a great deal about retail. They understand online shopping, follow brands on social media, recognise marketing trends and know how to find the best deals.

They understand what makes them click, what influences their purchasing decisions and what good customer service looks like when they are on the receiving end.

But how much do they know about what happens on the other side of the counter?

Drawing on insights shared by Sara Akkary from Junior Achievement Malta, a partner in the Skills4Retail project, we explore why retail deserves greater recognition as a place for young people to develop valuable workplace skills and discover career opportunities.

Imagine a 17-year-old working in a shop in Sliema, Malta, on a busy Saturday afternoon.

A customer insists that a jumper was discounted the previous day. The employee knows the promotion does not apply, the customer is becoming frustrated and a queue is forming.

How should the employee respond?

They might explain the pricing policy, check whether a previous promotion has expired, ask a manager for support or find another way to resolve the situation.

There is no single perfect response. But handling the situation requires skills that go well beyond knowing how to shop.

Communication, patience, problem-solving, adaptability and sound judgement all come into play.

For many young people, retail provides one of their first opportunities to develop these capabilities in a real working environment.

They learn to respond to different personalities, work alongside colleagues, manage competing demands and understand how their decisions affect both customers and the business.

These are experiences that can shape how young people approach work, whatever career they eventually pursue.

Retail is one of Europe’s major employment sectors, yet it is not always presented to young people as an attractive long-term career choice.

Retail is frequently associated with temporary employment, weekend shifts or a first job undertaken while studying.

While these opportunities remain important, they represent only one part of a much larger industry.

Behind every retail business are roles in buying, merchandising, supply chain management, logistics, e-commerce, digital marketing, customer experience and business operations.

Technology is also changing how these roles operate.

Artificial intelligence is increasingly used to forecast demand, data analytics helps businesses understand purchasing behaviour, and digital platforms enable retailers to reach customers across borders.

The skills required to succeed in retail are evolving alongside these developments.

Today’s retail workforce needs a combination of interpersonal abilities, commercial awareness, digital skills and the capacity to adapt to change.

For young people who have grown up surrounded by technology and digital commerce, these developments create opportunities to turn existing interests into professional capabilities.

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 identifies skills gaps as a major obstacle to business transformation, with 63% of employers citing them as a significant barrier.

Analytical thinking, resilience, adaptability, empathy and active listening are among the capabilities considered essential in the changing labour market.

These are also skills that can be developed through everyday retail experiences.

Consider what a typical shift might involve: helping a customer who is unsure what they need, supporting a colleague during a busy period, responding to an unexpected problem or deciding how to handle a difficult situation.

Each interaction offers an opportunity to learn.

Retail does not have exclusive ownership of these skills, but it provides an accessible and practical environment in which young people can begin developing them.

And their value extends beyond the sector itself.

Someone who starts in a customer-facing retail role may eventually move into management, marketing, entrepreneurship or an entirely different profession. Their experience of working with people, solving problems and understanding business operations can remain relevant throughout their career.

Recognising the value of retail experience is important. Equally important is ensuring that people entering or progressing within the sector have access to relevant training.

This is a central objective of Skills4Retail, an EU-funded initiative working to address skills gaps and support the development of a more competitive, innovative and future-ready European retail workforce.

The project has developed training resources designed around the needs of different groups within the sector, helping learners build practical knowledge and develop capabilities relevant to modern retail.

The Skills4Retail Emerging Training Programme is structured around three pathways:

These pathways recognise that retail skills development is not a one-size-fits-all process.

A young person entering the workforce, an experienced store manager and a vocational trainer have different learning needs. Effective training must reflect those differences while helping individuals develop skills that are relevant to their roles.

By connecting training with real workplace requirements, Skills4Retail aims to make it easier for learners, educators and businesses to prepare for the changing demands of the sector.

Explore Skills4Retail training programmes →

Retail offers opportunities to understand customers, build confidence, learn how businesses operate and gain practical experience in a changing commercial environment.

It can also provide a route into specialist and leadership roles that young people may not initially associate with the sector.

Educators, employers and industry organisations all have a role in making these possibilities more visible.

Through initiatives such as Skills4Retail, there is an opportunity to connect young people’s familiarity with the world of retail to structured learning, practical experience and clearer career pathways.

Not everyone who begins working in retail will remain in the sector throughout their career. For some, it will be an introduction to employment. For others, it will open the door to a long-term profession.

Both experiences have value.

A first retail job can teach someone how to communicate with customers, work as part of a team, respond to pressure and understand the decisions behind everyday business operations.

And as retail continues to embrace digital technologies and new business models, the range of skills and careers available within the industry will continue to develop.

Perhaps the question is not whether every young person should aspire to a lifelong career in retail, but whether we are doing enough to help them recognise what they can learn and achieve through working in the sector.

Skills4Retail is helping to make those opportunities more visible and the training needed to pursue them more accessible.