The Human Resources of the Italian Tanning Industry
One of the pillars on which the social responsibility of the Italian tanning industry is based, as well as one of the main criteria for measuring its sustainability, is respect and enhancement of the people who work in the tannery, as they are strategic resources for a production activity with ancient traditions that combines technological innovation and artisanal knowledge. Within a quality work environment, employees must have the opportunity to express their skills and talents in the best way possible. To this end, companies in the sector support, also in compliance with current national and international regulations, the importance of work as a way of growth, personal and professional development.
The organisational structure of the companies is characterised by general stability, demonstrating the commitment to enhancing and creating consolidated working relationships with its collaborators; in fact, the most common contractual form used by companies in the sector is that of permanent employment.
Tanning is characterised by high seasonal peaks and notable market fluctuations which require ever greater flexibility. Despite this, companies use the tools provided for by law correctly and responsibly, especially with regard to the use of employment agencies, which is limited.
THE WORKER PLAYS AN ESSENTIAL ROLE IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF WASTE INTO A VALUABLE MATERIAL.
Employment Trends and Average Tannery Workers
Despite the decline in tanning production volumes in recent years, employment in Italian tanneries has not suffered dramatic repercussions; at the end of 2023 it counted 17,882 workers. Compared to 20 years earlier, the reduction is equal to 10% overall, while in the last decade it was substantially stable. The post-Covid dynamic is particularly relevant in this scenario which, if in terms of tanning production induced a 15% reduction in volume (interval 2019-2023), on the contrary even saw employment grow by 2%, precisely with the aim of breathing new life into the sector’s recovery trend (unfortunately interrupted between 2022 and 2023).
This stability in employment is synonymous with the tanneries’ attention to safeguarding the workforce, which has always been a distinctive feature of our sector, characterised by a predominant historical presence of small and medium-sized family businesses.
Employees
No Data Found
2022 data
PEOPLE ARE OF GREAT IMPORTANCE IN A PRODUCTION COMPANY WITH A STRONG ARTISAN AND CREATIVE MATRIX.
As mentioned above, the Italian tanning industry is historically composed above all of hundreds and hundreds of small and medium-sized enterprises. This is a characteristic trait not only of the tanning sector but of a large part of the Italian manufacturing industry. Over the last two decades, however, the national and international evolution of the fashion, furniture and automotive market and supply chains has progressively led (and is still leading) to a gradual concentration of the population of Italian tanneries. This is an understandable, and in some ways natural, trend that has already been seen in numerous other sectors both in Italy and abroad, linked to understandable selection dynamics of the individual efficiencies of the operators and of aggregations for economies of scale and/or diversification of the offer.
The Italian tanning industry has thus gone from an average of 13 employees per company registered in the two-year period 2004-2005 to the current 15.7 (2022-2023).
Employees per Company (average)
No Data Found
2022 data
Organisational Structure of Workers
Since this is an industrial sector, it is not surprising that almost 80% of tanning workers are blue-collar workers, compared to 17% white-collar workers (with the remaining part – 4% – divided between intermediate, middle managers and managers). This is a slowly but constantly changing subdivision which sees the number of employees increasing due to the ever-increasing and relevant ’service’ activities correlated to the pure tanning process within companies. This trend is extremely understandable if we consider the concentration of more and more tanning companies towards the medium and high range, product segments where a broad and constant dialogue with customers must be developed.
Human resources
No Data Found
Type of Contractual Framework
The origin of those employed confirms the strong roots of the sector in the territory, of which it constitutes the driver of both economic and social development. In fact, the majority of workers come from the district or neighbouring areas. This situation is closely related to the stability of working relationships characterising the sector and guarantees workers and their families a dignified lifestyle.
The manufacturing calling of the sector is reflected in the contractual framework of its employees. The majority, mostly highly specialised, fall within the technical-operational area. Despite the high seasonal peaks and notable market fluctuations, the organisational structure of tanneries favours stable relationships (permanent employment contracts) as a way to protect the wealth of knowledge acquired and increased by the worker within the company. The use of flexible contractual types (fixed-term and temporary contracts) is also limited, guaranteeing specialised workers skills that can also be used in the broader district context.
Permanent workers
No Data Found
2022 data
Female Employment
From the detailed analysis of the employment picture, a moderate but interesting share of female employment emerges, recently ranging between 18% and 22% depending on the year. As previously mentioned, tanning in Italy has dimensions and characteristics of an industrial nature, which in the majority of process activities, struggle to use female labour due to the size and weight of the hides (even if some processes, often of an artisanal nature, if not also manual, actually prefer female qualities in terms of taste, creativity, precision).
Female employment as a percentage of total
No Data Found
2022 data
Foreign Employment
The high inclusiveness of the sector is demonstrated by the significant percentage of foreign workers, variable in different geographical areas, but now fully integrated into the community in which they operate. Their share of total employment in the sector has historically always been between 20% and 30% of the workforce, but in recent years there has been a reduction in incidence, probably due, as mentioned above, to the progressive concentration of Italian tanneries towards the medium and high range, product segments where the importance of specialised profiles is greater (profiles which often do not correspond to those of a large part of foreign workers).
Foreign employment as a percentage of total
No Data Found
dato 2022
Workers’ Age and Seniority
A significant aspect in characterising workers emerges from the data related to workers’ age and length of service.
The segmentation of tanning workers by age highlights a constant and progressive ageing of the working population, with 42% of the workforce in 2022 aged over 51 years (30% between 51 and 60 years, 12% over 61 years). Those under 40 represent only a third of the total workforce. The data strongly highlights the issue of generational turnover and, in turn, the need for actions aimed at attracting new talent also thanks to close collaboration with the training system, so that it interfaces with the world of work to develop the new professionalism and skills required from the production system.
Age
No Data Found
The other side of the coin, which further pushes towards activities to promote work in tanneries, is the analysis by employment seniority, which shows how over half of the employees (57% in 2022) have less than 10 years’ experience in tanneries, while approximately a fifth of them (21%) have more than 20 years of professional seniority.
Seniority classes
No Data Found
Training
One of the objectives of the SDGs for 2030 is to substantially increase the number of young people and adults with relevant skills, including technical and professional skills, for employment and entrepreneurship.
Training has always played a fundamental role for the entire Italian leather supply chain not only in relation to the development and qualification of employment, but also to the ability of companies to remain competitive over time. The changes underway, firstly the ecological transition, and the rapid evolution of technologies and market trends are leading to a profound transformation of the skills needed by workers and, with them, the professional profiles required.
Added to this are the physiological turnover and progressive ageing of the working population, also in relation to the difficulty of hiring young people. Sectors with strong craftsmanship, such as those linked to leather processing (but not only), have lost much appeal over time towards millennials, who are more attracted to other professions. Therefore, the need for actions that involve the greatest number of stakeholders from both the industrial and training chains, promoting wide-ranging initiatives and sharing good practices to connect companies and young people, emerges with ever greater urgency.
The continuous commitment of UNIC and the sector for training and disseminating the culture of Italian leather and its values lies in this context, with training proposals at schools, higher education institutes and universities, as well as those at commercial operators of the entire supply chain.