The Tamesis
In this sense, workforce design is a critical leadership challenge, not just an afterthought for HR. If administrative jobs no longer serve as training grounds, companies will need new entry routes—structured rotations, supervised use of AI, clearer quality standards, and earlier decisions about appropriate dosages of exposure. Learning models and promotion criteria also need to evolve to teach and reward skills such as judgment and adaptability rather than pure output.
Finally, organizations need to jointly plan for hybrid human and AI capabilities: how many roles will be needed and what they will be used for. “Are we going to cut costs through layoffs, or are we going to capture that value by training and using employees to do things we couldn’t do before, like spending more time with customers?” Madgavka said. “If you have $1 billion of available capacity, how are you going to leverage it to advance your corporate mission? That’s a real executive leadership challenge.”
Methodology and Demographics
fashion business Launched a five-minute survey to understand how artificial intelligence will impact careers in the fashion, beauty and retail industries, running from October to December 2025. fashion business Newsletter subscribers, LinkedIn followers, and direct access to 500 industry contacts.
To take the survey, respondents were aged 16 and over, working in the fashion, beauty or retail industries (including employees in any function, business owners and freelancers), or students aspiring to work in these industries. Among the respondents, 31% were between the ages of 16 and 24; 33% were between the ages of 25 and 34; 24% were between the ages of 35 and 44; and 12% were 45 and above. 85% of the respondents were female, 13% were male, 0.8% were non-binary, and the remaining 1.2% did not want to disclose their gender.
60% of the respondents currently work in the fashion industry, 6% and 7% work in the beauty and retail industries respectively, and 27% are students. Among professionals, 37% are business owners or freelancers and 63% are employees. Of these employees, 41% work for luxury goods companies, 26% work for mid-tier or affordable luxury goods companies, 21% work for mass-market fashion, beauty or retail companies, and the remainder work for fashion councils, agencies, media companies, higher education institutions, etc.
Those working in marketing, PR and communications make up 48% of the workforce, followed by those working in creative direction or content creation at 10%; 7% in marketing, product development and sourcing; 6% in fashion or beauty product design; 4% in sales or commercial; 4% in business operations and project management; 2% in supply chain and logistics; 2% Technology, digital strategy and innovation are involved; the remaining jobs are in human resources, customer service and client relations, finance, legal and compliance, data and analytics, photography, hair and makeup, styling, modeling, talent agencies, editing and education.
The survey was primarily intended for a Western audience. Among the respondents, 37% live in the United Kingdom; 14% in the United States; 13% in France; 6% in Germany; 6% in Italy; and the remaining 24% include those living in Australia, New Zealand, India, United Arab Emirates, Philippines, Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Japan, and Turkey People from Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Netherlands, Croatia, Ireland, Cyprus, Latvia, Kosovo, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Canada, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Venezuela, South Africa, Uruguay, Brazil and Mexico.
