“At the table opened with the government, we are thinking about requesting more extensive social shock absorbers from January, similar to those implemented during the Covid emergency”. Talking to Il Sole24Ore, Claudia Sequi, owner of Pelletterie Claudia and president of Assopellettieri, just rattles off a few numbers to explain why the Italian manufacturing fabric industry needs extraordinary resources. “In Tuscany, the redundancy fund in the first six months of the year increased fourfold, in percentage terms 138%”, are her words. “That means four million hours. In total, the whole sector in Italy has reached eighteen million hours”.
From the consumption crisis to the labour crisis
The need to resort to stronger doses of social shock absorbers responds to a consumption crisis that has translated into a labour crisis. “In the Tuscan district alone, the drop in production exceeds 17%”, Sequi summarises. “If we compare the data with the post-pandemic period, we exceed 20%”. The scenario that the president of Assopellettieri (an association that is a member of Confindustria Moda) paints in Il Sole 24 Ore is sadly familiar to the public of La Conceria. “I would speak of a perfect storm: two wars, skyrocketing interest rates, inflation and a crisis in the transport system. This downward curve of ours could only fill the warehouses with stockpiles”, she concludes, “and adversely affect spending power and consumer behaviour”.
Photo by Imagoeconomica
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