The crisis inevitably affected the life of families, causing an evolution of their consumption model which "shows an erosion of as much as 15 percentage points, with an increase in the so-called 'forced consumption' (among others, rents, energy consumption, health, transport and insurance services), as well as certain consumer discretionary items". This was underlined by the president of Federdistribuzione, Giovanni Cobolli Gigli, heard in the Senate in the Labor commission on the consequences of the economic-financial crisis.
Cobolli Gigli nonetheless claimed a calming role for Federdistribuzione, "protecting the purchasing power of the consumer, through the introduction of 'first prices', strong promotional items in electronics, convenience in some fashion sectors". But the contraction in consumption has nonetheless also had repercussions on distribution, holding back sales and making their expansion increasingly difficult "in the last decade they grew in real terms by only 0,3%", remarked Cobolli Gigli. And in the future, he added, "the possibilities for investing will decrease." Even during the crisis years, distribution has continued to represent an employment opportunity.
“However, the prolongation of the crisis itself for the first time affected the sector's ability to generate new jobs, despite the already planned investments having been maintained”, remarked Cobolli Gigli. And therefore there has been a substantial block of replacements and fewer hires. The reduction in turnover has led to a slight aging of the population of workers in the sector. Fixed-term contracts are increasing and permanent ones are decreasing; apprenticeship decreases, but to a lesser extent in other sectors.
The decrease in fixed-term contracts is attributable to fewer openings and activities in the traditional peak periods, and to fewer replacements. There is also a slight drop in part-time and female employment. Recourse to apprenticeship contracts also decreased slightly, but to a lesser extent than in other sectors.
“However, some measures can be a stimulus for recovery - concluded the president of Federdistribuzione, who was supported by the general manager Massimo Viviani - The business system needs to recover productivity and competitiveness. The freedom of enterprise must be a cardinal principle for every economic policy intervention, to be carried out in collaboration between the State and the regions”.
