Home » The Sicilian economy is the hardest hit by Covid: 66,990,000 jobs have been lost since 2020

The Sicilian economy is the hardest hit by Covid: 66,990,000 jobs have been lost since 2020

by admin

Palermo – If you prick an elephant with a toothpick, it breaks without scratching the animal. While if you sting a fly with the same tool, you kill it. It is a way, even a trivial one, to refute those who argue that the pandemic has had very mild effects on Sicily compared to the regions of Northern Italy. In reality, those economies of the country are comparable to elephants: they have suffered considerable damage, but they have been thriving for decades and have the conditions to recover quickly. Sicily, on the other hand, can be said to have been in “economic lockdown” for 13 years and has continued to be so from 2020. Starting from this basis, the analysis by Cerved and Confindustria with Intesa Sanpaolo on the fabric of SMEs (companies from 50 to 249 employees) confirms that the impact of Covid on the island has had devastating effects at least in terms of employment . In fact, between 2020 and 2021 the estimate is a loss of 66,990 jobs, equal to -8.50%. In Lombardy, the forecast of canceled contracts is 262 thousand, equal to -7.80%. In this way we can already see how Sicily has a proportionately greater risk of default. However, it must also be considered that in recent years the island has seen an average of 40 thousand places disappear per year, to which must be added 20 thousand emigrants.

To be fair, it must be said that, on the contrary, the state measures adopted to protect companies have helped to contain the number of SMEs’ bankruptcies, proportionally less in Sicily and much more in Lombardy. In our Region there were 61 open procedures in 2020, -16.4% compared to the 73 of the previous year; in the “locomotive” of the North, on the other hand, there was a decrease in bankruptcies of -28.4% (from 429 to 307).

See also  Microsoft is improving the context menu of the Windows 11 operating system-Windows 11

The pandemic has not only affected the occupation. The SME system comes out with broken bones also in terms of financial solidity. If as a number, in Sicily, SMEs have grown from 5,819 in 2019 to 5,843 in 2020, the growth trend is just + 2.9% in twelve years and the ratio between financial debt and equity has grown in the last year from 70.2 to 74.4%, among the highest in Italy. The ratio between financial charges (interest on debts) and the size of companies rose from 14.5 to 19.5%. And so the capital of Sicilian SMEs risks being eroded by 5.7%, based on the estimate of the Report on SMEs that could exit the market or be forced to downsize to cope with reduced orders. Now the topic will be to understand if and how the new measures of the Draghi government can help these activities not to close and resume the race.

In fact, the scenario described by the SME Report of Cerved and Confindustria with Intesa Sanpaolo sees Sicily as the last, far behind the Mezzogiorno that the resources of the “Recovery Fund” should restart. For example, the number of SMEs in the eight lagging regions grew significantly (+ 11.8%) in twelve years, bankruptcies in one year fell by 29.7%. The other indicators (lost jobs, financial charges and capital erosion) show similar percentages. But already the more dynamic southern productive fabric will be more capable of perceiving the positive effects of the “Recovery” and of benefiting from it. Sicily will have to make a greater effort, a counterattack.

You may also like

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More

Privacy & Cookies Policy