2020 in the Marches, one of the most manufacturing regions in Europe, ended with a contraction “of exceptional magnitude”. The study center of the regional Confindustria puts it on paper in the usual annual report: -13.5% of production (-11.6% the national average), with the fashion and footwear sectors falling respectively to -25.7 % and -21.9%; -13.2% turnover, with very heavy negative variations for all sectors, under the pressure of exports that fell by 11.7%. The president of Confindustria Marche, Claudio Schiavoni, speaks of a “heavy shock”, according to whom the pandemic “has amplified the consequences of the long 2008-2014 crisis on the regional economic system”. In just one year, the Marche also lost 14,000 jobs (8,400 by women), the employment rate dropped almost one percentage point (it is 64.1% compared to 65% in 2019) and, above all, , the youth unemployment rate rose to 29.2% (+ 5.7%).
The scenario for 2021
Where to start from? Schiavoni speaks of “new competitiveness” and indicates a path, within which the Recovery Plan and new programming of the European structural funds constitute “the main basis for the relaunch of the industrial and development policy of our region”. And in the face of an external shock of this size, digitization becomes an obligation rather than a priority, with the Marche not starting from scratch. Quite the contrary: between 2001 and 2017 the share of employment in the high-tech sectors in the Marche region increased from 1.4% to 2.4%, exceeding the average value of the central regions (1.6% ) and Italy (1.4%); moreover, the share of companies with high growth and significant levels of profitability in 2019 reached that of Lombardy, reaching levels just below that of Emilia-Romagna and Veneto and the personnel of the companies involved in R&D grew by more than 10 times in the decade 1995-2015, almost unique in the national panorama. “Signals that highlight the ability of the regional production system to position itself in areas of high growth demand and in central positions of global value chains – points out Marco Cucculelli, professor of economics at the Marche Polytechnic -, through an adaptation process that took place with the introduction of knowledge into production processes “.
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The recovery is coming
The recovery expected in the second half of this year will give companies a competitive space, but the condition highlighted by the economist is that “companies are able to change the business model first of all, alongside the adoption of digital technologies”. “From our observatory, we gather greater awareness on the part of companies about the need to innovate production processes and business models to seize new opportunities”, says Cristina Balbo, regional director of Emilia-Romagna and Marche of Intesa Sanpaolo, who with Confindustria Marche has signed a collaboration agreement, identifying 11 areas of action, including digitization, to support the resumption of investments in strategic assets capable of guaranteeing system solidity.