In the footwear industry, 30,000 people risk their jobs. This was stated by the president of Assocalzaturifici, Siro Badon, who also indicates the support measures the sector needs: the reopening of shops, a 30% reduction of labor costs extended throughout Italy, support for exports and green corridors for fairs and business.
Footwear industry
“The situation of the footwear sector is beyond the critical threshold – explains Badon, president of the association member of Confindustria Moda -, because we are already certain of a disastrous 2021. Unfortunately, without strong and specific measures, there will be many jobs at risk and companies closures as soon as the redundancy period ends. We estimate that up to 30,000 jobs are at risk, to which we will inevitably have to add those of the related industries and in the upstream supply chain”. By 2020, 174 companies and over 3,000 employees had been lost.
The need for certainties
“We need the government to give us certainties”, says the president of Italian footwear, before listing the measures necessary to support the sector. First point: the reopening of the shops. Unsold fashion products devalue from one season to the next “compromising companies’s financial statements”. Second point: the reduction of 30% on the cost of labor, which should be extended to the whole sector, and throughout Italy. A concept that Badon has been expressing for some time now.
Another request is a rapid approval of the implementing decrees in order to benefit from a tax credit for the 30% of inventories value. Third point: export support. “Fairs are an essential asset for SMEs. Delaying or preventing its opening is equivalent to hindering the resumption of international trade and the promotion of Made in Italy” concludes Badon. And to allow the arrival of foreign buyers and Italian entrepreneurs business trips, the president of the Italian footwear industry is asking for green corridors.
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