In Southeast Asia, 137 million people, 46% of the region’s workforce, are employed in the frontline sectors of F&B, retail, tourism & hospitality, healthcare, transport & logistics, and manufacturing. 

Momentum Works and Lark have released a joint report titled “Transforming Frontline Industries: Make F&B, Retail and Hospitality Greater”, providing in-depth insights into Southeast Asia’s frontline industries.

Despite experiencing robust growth post-pandemic, organisations in these industries face two critical challenges:

  1. High turnover of frontline staff. Turnover rates can reach up to 48% annually, costing businesses US$22.6 billion in replacement and retraining costs.
  2. Complex organisation, where headquarters, store managers and frontline staff are operating in very different environments, yet they have to communicate and collaborate effectively. 

In addition, frontline industries are also facing external challenges of intensifying competition, evolving customer expectations, squeezed margins and complex supply chain that is prone to disruptions. 

Addressing these challenges requires frontline industries to enhance operational efficiency. The report presents a six-part playbook for future-proofing the frontline workforce. 

There are frontline organisations which have risen to the challenges well. The report features case studies from Zus Coffee and Pop Mart, exploring their successful management of over 3,000 employees and 3,735 frontline staff respectively. 

Outline of the “Transforming Frontline Industries: Make F&B, Retail and Hospitality Greater” report:

  1. Introduction to frontline industries 
  2. Key external challenges facing frontline industries 
  3. A six part playbook on how frontline sectors can futureproof themselves; 
  4. Case studies: Zus Coffee, Pop Mart

You can download the full report here.

Some highlights of the report: 

  • Frontline industries are experiencing robust growth, but there are many external challenges
  • Frontline turnover costs businesses more than US$22 billion in Southeast Asia
  • Entry of many new brands leads to intensifying competition
  • Adopt the right digital tools for effective management of frontline organisations
  • Two case studies on how F&B and retail players manage scale and complexities