On 19 November, the University of Melbourne signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement with innovative global retailer UNIQLO. The relationship aims to deliver invaluable career and education opportunities for students.
As one of the world’s fastest-growing retailers, UNIQLO is committed to attracting and developing top talent, who can understand customers and bring a local perspective to create a truly global impact.
Through this collaboration, students will gain access to world-class training programs with real-world experience, preparing students to become leaders and change-makers on a global stage.
“We collaborate with organisations that share our values and advance student knowledge, and we believe this collaboration with UNIQLO is the right fit”, said Professor Paul Kofman, Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics at The University of Melbourne.
Satoshi Naito, COO of UNIQLO Australia, said the partnership represents an important step in UNIQLO’s long-term commitment to innovation and talent development in Australia. “Since opening our first store in Australia over a decade ago, UNIQLO has grown to 40 stores nationwide. However, our focus has never been on scale alone, but on challenging conventional thinking and creating new value through our LifeWear philosophy.
We aim to make people’s lives better through simple, high-quality clothing, and that requires people who are passionate about innovation and change. Through this Memorandum of Understanding, we look forward to working closely with students and academic talent to foster new ideas and create meaningful impact beyond retail.”
UNIQLOs parent company, FAST RETAILING CO., LTD., runs an extensive six-day Global Management Program (GMP), for a select group of students from around the world. This immersive program provides students an opportunity to learn directly from inspiring global business leaders, to build expertise and skills in global retail and business strategy.
Students will also have opportunities to participate in mentoring and networking programs, collaborative projects, career workshops, and on campus activations, equipping them with skills to tackle and solve global challenges.
This alliance reflects the University of Melbourne’s position as Australia’s leading university and joins a rich breadth of student employment and career readiness initiatives including the careers and employability service and Students @ Work program.