Coronavirus is deeply hindering job recruitment in France. Maroquinerie Thomas, a French leather goods group that specializes in high-end outsourcing, have just reconsidered their plans to augment staff units. “Since Covid-19 has been affecting our customers’ orders, we are compelled to slow down our job recruitment”, announced Yann Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of the group, while speaking to lavoixdunord.fr daily newspaper. According to Franco Baccani, managing director of B&G (fully controlled, 100%, by Maroquinerie Thomas since 2018), “the whole manufacturing activity has been slowing down considerably”.
Maroquinerie Thomas deal with French problems
In October 2018, the French company announced the opening of a new manufacturing plant, located in Arras. The worth of the deal was 6 million euros; besides that, they were also planning to take on over 250 new employees in 4 years. They will join 1,300 workers, currently employed in the group. Such staff expansion plan is not going to go up in smoke. It will slow down though. “In place of training and hiring 80 employees in 2020, we are now thinking about just 30 to 35”, pointed out the manager while talking to the French daily newspaper. Yet, Thomas also believes that every cloud has a positive aspect. In fact, owing to such slowdown, we shall manage to pay closer attention to our future employees’ professional training. “If virus outbreak comes to an end within March/April, effects on our development will be therefore limited – continued the manager –. Conversely, if it went on throughout the whole year, it would be another story of course”.
The Italian partner
Baccani is rather concerned likewise: “Maroquinerie Thomas activity is currently running at full speed – he remarked –: they are working on a regular basis”. Yet, of course, this is not enough to feel fully reassured: “We have to consider one thing: for the time being, we have been only experiencing the impact of China – he continued –; I wonder about consequences deriving from Korea, Japan, the United States and Europe”. Measures implemented to limit Coronavirus outbreak even make relations complicated: “We are going to meet up with French shareholders to figure out what we had better do – pointed out Baccani –. Yet, it is going to be complicated, for them as well, to arrive here from France. Travelling is not easy at present. We shall speak to them in order to pinpoint a few suitable solutions to minimize economic consequences. We have to deal with our workers and manage ongoing costs: that is why we have to do our best to tackle this situation properly”.
Picture taken from Maroquinerie Thomas
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