The crisis of the European automotive sector is now hitting the supplier industry in Italy, which produces for both the domestic and the German market. Supplier firms, which are usually small to middle sized, are starting to lay off hundreds of workers as automakers have cancelled orders. Workers react by organizing local strikes. The Lombardy Commissioner to Economic Development Guido Guidesi, said at a Nov. 30 conference that 30% of the sector is endangered.
Unemployment figures in Stellantis (Fiat, Alfa, Lancia, Maserati) are much higher than official numbers, as they are hidden by the Italian system of “Cassa Integrazione,” (CI) in which workers are unemployed but retained on the company payroll. Stellantis has 10,000 workers in CI, 70% of whose wage is paid by the government and 30% by the company. CI, however, is limited in time—it can be stretched out but not too long. Beginning in 2025 thousands of workers are going to drop off the rolls.
