Two letters on the Government’s desk regarding the crisis in the fashion sector, which after the recovery following the pandemic began to suffer the strong contraction of the global market, with effects also on the employment front. The first letter was sent by the president of the Tuscany Region Eugenio Giani to the ministers for labor and social policies Calderone and for the economy Giorgetti. The second, addressed to Minister Calderone, comes from the Tuscan regional councilor Alessandra Nardini, in her role as coordinator of the training and work commission of the Conference of Regions.
Two letters to ask for the activation of specific social safety nets and which are accompanied by a third letter sent by Giani in recent days to Minister Urso to draw attention to the credit front.
“Many companies risk soon running out of any possibility of resorting to forms of salary integration. Layoffs must be avoided and the situation makes national interventions urgent” underline Giani and Nardini. “The fashion system – they continue – is a key sector for Italian manufacturing, which has been able to overcome the challenges of globalization thanks to a continuous process of modernization of production techniques, sustainable and attentive to the environment, research into materials and redevelopment of product capable of repositioning the offer on the higher ranges. Italy is a leader in Europe both in terms of number of companies operating in the fashion system and in terms of turnover generated and for Tuscany this is a very important sector”.
On the crisis in the fashion sector, President Giani had convened a regional table in May, together with councilors Nardini and Marras, with the participation of all the employers’ associations, trade unions and mayors of the territories concerned.
Fashion in Tuscany employs around 130 thousand people: the majority in the production segments (textiles, clothing, tannery, footwear, leather goods, accessories, jewellery), including the production of machinery, 10 percent in the tertiary sector (wholesale and intermediation). In fact, therefore, 6-8 percent of all those employed in the region work in the sector, 40 percent of all manufacturing, for an added value of 5.5 billion euros. All the main Italian and foreign brands produce directly or indirectly in Tuscany.
The weight of fashion is also important on the export front, which is decreasing and producing negative effects on the GDP. But the number of people employed is also decreasing: starting from September, job starts have decreased monthly with percentages between 20 and 32 percent compared to 2022. and in recent months requests for redundancy payments have increased.
Source: Tuscany Region
