In 3 months I lost almost 11 thousand craftsmen: but the worst is yet to come. Without aid, 100 thousand less by the end of the year
In the first 3 months of this year, the total number of artisan businesses in Italy fell by 10.902 units, a negative figure, however in line with what was recorded in the same period of the previous 3 years.
The worst, reports the CGIA, should unfortunately come in the coming months, when the negative economic effect of Covid will be felt with greater intensity.
The coordinator of the Paolo Zabeo Studies Office declares:
“In these two and a half months of lockdown, many artisans without any income support have been in difficulty and there have been few who have speculated to throw in the towel and to definitively close the gate. After a week of total reopening, however, the mood of many small business owners has changed. There is a desire to fight, to resist, to revive the economic fortunes of one's business. Unfortunately, not all of them will survive and it cannot be excluded that by the end of the year the overall stock of craft businesses in the country will decrease by almost 100 thousand units, with a loss of at least 300 thousand jobs ".
- The crisis comes from afar: in the last 11 years almost 200 thousand artisan companies have lost
The extent of the contraction will depend on the support measures that will be introduced by the government in the next 2-3 months. Taking into account that in the last 11 years the stock of artisan enterprises has fallen by almost 200 thousand units, as of March 31, 2020 the artisan companies active in Italy amounted to 1.275.970.
To prevent further deaths from many artisan shops by the end of 2020, the CGIA reiterates the need to provide important non-repayable contributions to these activities and to eliminate tax revenue for the current year: such as 'Irpef, Ires and Imu on the sheds.
CGIA Secretary Renato Mason says:
“Craftsmanship needs support because it is the element of social cohesion of our production system. If micro businesses disappear, we risk significantly lowering the quality of our made in Italy. It is true that with the Relaunch decree various measures have been introduced including the zeroing of the balance and the Irap advance due in June, the reproposition of the 600 euros for the month of April and the deduction of 60 percent of the rents, but all this is still insufficient to make up for the disastrous drop in turnover recorded in recent months by many small businesses. Too many measures that risk dispersing the resources made available in many streams which, on the other hand, should be channeled only on three headings: families, direct compensation to businesses and tax cuts ".
- Relaunch: grants are a small thing
Even the long-awaited non-repayable grants introduced with the Raising Decree in favor of small businesses risk not having the desired effects; the economic dimension of the refreshment, in fact, is very limited. The activities that suffered the lockdown, at best, cover only 1/6 of the losses incurred in April.
The four simulations were carried out on micro and small craft activities which in April 2020 were forced to close the activity by decree:
- a hairdresser with an average annual turnover recorded in 2019 of 70 thousand euros and a loss, from April 2020 to April 2019, of over 5.833 euros, will receive, according to the provisions of the "Relaunch decree", 20 percent of this deficit. In practice only € 1.167;
- a furniture maker carpenter with an annual turnover of 180 thousand euros and a loss in April 2020 on the same month of last year of 15 thousand euros, will receive, with this liability, 3.000 euros, or 20 percent of the lost revenues;
- a construction company with a turnover of 450 thousand euros shows a fall in turnover of 37.500 euros. From the provisions of the "Relaunch decree" you will receive 5.625 euros. Amount obtained by applying 15 percent on the loss;
- a metalworking company with annual revenues of 500 thousand euros and a deficit of 41.667 euros will collect 6.250 euros from the state, equal to 15 percent of the deficit.
- Household consumption down 75 billion
To worry about the CGIA, however, there is not only the lack of credit that grips the artisans and in general all the SMEs, but also the forecast of consumption by Italian families for the current year. According to Def 2020, in fact, the fall will be 7,2 percent; in absolute terms, the collapse of purchases compared to 2019 will be around 75 billion and at the expense will be above all the artisans, small traders and self-employed workers who live almost exclusively on household consumption. In short, the turnover of these small businesses are destined to fall disastrously, dragging many neighborhood shops towards the final closure. All this will entail a not only minor employment problem, but also a sharp drop in the quality of life. When shops and small shops close, urban areas become poorer and become fertile ground for the spread of degradation, abandonment and petty crime.
- Only Trieste, Imperia and Catania have a higher number of registrations than terminations
As we said above, the handicraft crisis starts from afar. Between 2009 and 2019, in fact, we lost 12,2 percent of the companies in this sector (especially construction, hauliers and metalworking companies) and the regions most affected were those in the South: Sardinia -19 percent, Abruzzo - 18,8 percent, Umbria - 16,2 percent, Molise -16,1 and Sicily - 15,9 percent.
If, however, we analyze the birth-mortality referring to the first quarter of 2020, Lombardy (-1.814 companies), Emilia Romagna (-1.215), Piedmont (-1.068) and Veneto (-1.002) are the territories that in absolute terms have registered the most negative balance.
Finally, at the provincial level, again in the first quarter of this year, the heaviest situations of contraction of the artisan enterprises occurred in the large metropolitan areas. In particular in Turin (-544), Milan (-490), Rome (-421), Bari (-346) and Bologna (-274). Out of 105 provinces analyzed, the only ones that recorded a positive balance were three: Trieste (+11), Imperia (+16) and Catania (+76).
