THE next time the Avon lady calls, it may well be a victim of the credit crunch standing on the doorstep.
Avon’s Australian arm has signed on 7224 new sales representatives nationally since starting a recruitment drive at the end of February.
Spokeswoman Michaela Groves attributed the huge surge in recruits – the company normally appoints between 300 and 400 a week – to the economic downturn. Women who had signed up included those who had been retrenched, as well as those looking to supplement household income because their husbands had lost jobs.
Of the new recruits, 1767 were from the greater Sydney area.
“We are seeing women taking it on as a second income if their husband’s hours have been cut or if their jobs are in jeopardy,” she said.
“There are also mums who up until now have had the luxury of not being able to work who now need to contribute to household income.”
Figures released last week show the national jobless rate is now at 5.2 per cent, with 54,000 full-time jobs lost last month. The female unemployment rate rose 0.5 per cent to 5.3 per cent.
Ms Groves said Avon started its television recruitment campaign last month to coincide with the economic downturn, on the advice of its American parent company.
In the United States, there has been a similar surge in women applying to be Avon representatives since it launched a recruitment drive last year called “It Pays To Be With Avon”, offering perks such as petrol money and free online sales training.
Avon representatives make their money by selling cosmetics door-to-door, receiving commission on a sliding scale from 15 to 50 per cent, depending on their experience.
Last year, Charli Hill was working as a team leader at a large banking corporation in Sydney, climbing the ranks of middle management and earning a six-figure salary.
“Not in a million years” did she imagine herself working as an Avon lady. But, like many of her colleagues, Ms Hill was a victim of the struggling corporation’s second wave of redundancies in December.
She initially started searching for a new position in the banking sector, where she has worked for the past decade. But as she realised jobs were hemorrhaging everywhere she turned her attention to other sources of income.
There was no time to waste. Ms Hill is a single mother of two high-school-age children and calculated her redundancy payout would last only five months. A friend referred her to Avon and she signed up last month.
She knows that in this economic climate, any source of potential income is to be appreciated.
“What I like about [Avon] is that you can work your own hours, work near home and build the business up to as big as you want,” she said.
At the same time, Ms Hill is studying to be a financial planner to broaden her qualifications and improve future employment chances.
