Italian Fashion Chamber Signs Protocol with Ministry of Labor to Support Generation Shift in the Sector

MILAN In keeping with its mission to protect the fashion sector, its knowledge and expertise, as well as its employees, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana has signed a new protocol with the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy.

Called Il lavoro buono, or Good Work in English, it focuses on educational programs and initiatives aimed at supporting a generational shift in the industry, which is likely to require around 40,000 new employees in the next five years. The protocol stems from discussions between ministries and industry players held over the past few months due to the pandemic that hit the sector.

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The average age of fashion employees is very high and in the coming years the sector will face a turnover of workers who put their skills, knowledge and expertise at stake, said Italys Ministry of Labor Andrea Orlando during a press conference in Milan hosted by Camera on Tuesday.

This protocol is intended to strengthen the professional skills of sector employees, by implementing regional programs to support competency transition and requalification of workers with the aim of maintaining employment levels in the fashion sector and providing continuing education to employees throughout their careers. . There are 1.5 million fashion workers in the country, including employees in the fashion-related trade and service industry.

The ministry noted that the resources provided by the EU’s Next Generation EU plan to support the relaunch of the continent after the pandemic will be partially channeled to the project, as part of the national Recovery and Resilience Plan.

Recognizing the strategic relevance of the fashion industry to the country, educational activities targeting employee upgrading and re-skilling, including updating digital capabilities, are key, said Orlando.

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As part of the deal, the Italian ministry and fashion chamber will institute a roundtable to continuously monitor the progress being made. We need to be able to photograph the evolution of the job market, which is constantly changing, says Orlando.

Carlo Capasa, chairman of Camera Italia della Moda, expressed his pride at the signed protocol, which marks the recognition of our sector as strategic for the relaunch of the country’s economy, he said, noting that the Italian fashion room is leading the sector in supporting the shift in employee generation.

As part of the Italian government’s further steps to support the relaunch, the country is moving towards implementing the mandatory European certification Green Pass released to citizens of countries who have been vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 in the last six months for all employees to access work facilities from 15 October .

Asked about the recent political debate and social upheaval in response to the move, Orlando said he sees certification as a means to kickstart and support a relaunch, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses that have been most affected by the decline in consumption related to the lockdown, he said.

The ministry ruled out offering free swabs to all unvaccinated workers, as some political parties have suggested. I support any action to control swab prices, but offering them for free would be counterintuitive as the government views the Green Pass as also a tool to support vaccination campaigns, he said.

The fashion room has been actively supporting the sector as a whole in the last decade. Last month, the company announced a partnership with the Ethical Fashion Initiative to introduce the fashion industry’s first ESG Due Diligence and Reporting Framework, which provides stakeholders with access to a sustainability system to identify, eliminate and mitigate ESG-related risks.