Vicenzaoro Highlights, January 2023: Strategy of Attraction

Until a few years ago, if a young person expressed the desire to enroll in hotel management school to pursue a career as a chef, his parents would most likely tell him to choose another path because that was not preparatory to a cursus honorum worthy of note. Times change, that’s for certain, because today, a chef is a coveted professional figure that opens up many channels, for some, even very profitable television careers. A glaring example that was made during the  Opening Ceremony organized by Italian Exhibition Group for this edition  of Vicenzaoro, in a dialogue between the Minister of Enterprise and Made  in Italy, Adolfo Urso, and the Director General of ITA, Roberto Luongo,  as a parameter to stimulate the sector towards a strategic direction that  can no longer be postponed: we need to change the perception that the new  generations have of one of the national economy’s most important sectors.  According to a recent study, it has in fact been calculated that, in the next few years, there will be a shortage of around 30-40,000 workers in various branches of craftsmanship, including  the gold-jewelry industry, which already suffers from a significant labor  shortage. To counter this negative phenomenon, many forces are being deployed on several fronts, both public and private. Minister Urso went on  to emphasize that «Vicenzaoro is Europe's largest gold and jewelry exhibition. Here, it isn’t just “beautiful and  well done” that is celebrated: here, the very best in the world of an extremely high value supply chain is presented, one which has known how to evolve and update, skillfully combining Italy’s  centuries’ old tradition with technological innovation under the banner of  sustainability. A heritage that deserves to be protected and promoted even by extending the IGP mark to artisan  and industrial products, as the European Union’s Security Council recently decided: a huge success for our  country and its manufacturing activities, of which the jewelry supply chain  is certainly a noble expression. The action of this Government will always be oriented towards defending the arts and professions. This also involves particular attention to training, the key to bridging the gap in the skills that the labor market is having difficulties in filling.» A cue taken advantage of by  Claudia Piaserico, President of Federorafi, who commented: «The sector  needs young people who are prepared and fascinated by the professional opportunities offered by our world. To make up for the lack of human capital, we need to work on culture, and for this  reason, we have activated communication projects, which take advantage of  social channels suitable for reaching  the new generations and with considerable international scope, also thanks  to the support of ITA, and of reputation, to transmit the value of a sector,  the heritage of Made in Italy, to families as well.» Piaserico particularly recalled the ongoing project linked to  skuola.net, the most important media-tech for school orientation with 6  million followers, an ideal platform to capture the attention of potential new master goldsmiths, as well as the close collaboration with internationally renowned tiktokers hosted by various companies to show the “behind the scenes” of a fascinating profession  that young people have rather neglected. While waiting for Italian jewelry’s  candidature as Intangible Heritage of  Humanity to go through, which Federorafi has recently launched, all that remains is to look at the many advances  that the industry is making towards greater ethicality and sustainability within the sector and innovation in general. Vicenzaoro, which has always been at the side of the institutions and the main players in this sense, has, as always, given ample space to topics such as man-woman equity. See, for example, the two talks held yesterday  by Italpreziosi entitled “Women driving sustainability in mining”, and  the one organized by IEG in collaboration with BPW International and  Africa Business Council, “Women &  Business in jewelry”. Instead, the CIBJO seminar entitled “The branding  of the jewelry market” will take place today with the ever-present “interline” of achieving the objectives of the UN 2030 Agenda. The road in this case is still long, but already clearly marked out.