“Few young artisans? It is not a problem of salary, but of culture: because it is a world far away from them”. Serge Brunschwig, CEO of Fendi, a brand controlled by LVMH, is convinced that even if salaries were raised, young people would not come in droves in manufacturing companies. LVMH has 35 production sites in Italy, 13,000 employees and will invest 150 million euros in 2023, part of which will be used to recruit labour.
Looking for 1,000
LVMH is looking for 1,000 employees in Italy. Of these, 200 in Tuscany, as the French group explained on Friday 14 and Saturday 15 April 2023 in Florence, during the first stage of the You and ME initiative organised by its Métiers d’Excellence. The luxury giant offers (and therefore needs) over 1,000 training and/or work opportunities available in Italy in 2023. This number includes study/work programmes, internships, fixed-term and open-ended contracts.
The problem is not the salary
At the event, Serge Brunschwig, CEO of Fendi (centre, in the group photo taken during You and ME), paused to analyse the situation of Italian craftsmanship. “The search for talent is the key to the future of luxury in Italy,” he explained to the newspaper La Stampa. According to Brunschwig, however, raising the salary is not enough to attract young people. Because he believes it is a cultural issue that keeps them away from manual trades, perceived as a world that does not belong to them. “We need schools, we need to encourage technical education, which is underdeveloped in Italy compared to Germany and France. The scarcity of technical education is a weakness of the Italian system”. Brunschwig believes that the “Liceo del Made in Italy” (made in Italy high school, ed.) envisaged by the Meloni government could be “an interesting initiative: let’s hope it can move forward”.
150 million investment
At the same event, Toni Belloni (last on the right in the photo), general director of LVMH, says that the group will invest around 150 million euros in Italy this year. MF Fashion reports that staff increases are planned at the Fendi factory in Bagno a Ripoli and at Loro Piana in Impruneta. In total, about 200 hires are planned in Tuscany. You and ME will continue its Italian tour in Novara on 26 May and in Padua on 29 September.
