Those who are young and are thinking of a job for the future would do well not to underestimate the world of jewelery and goldsmithing. In a world where companies often struggle to identify the right skills for their business, working with gold and gems offers many possibilities. But supply and demand do not meet. A survey conducted by Skuola.net on 3,000 middle and high school students, and commented by Federorafi, the Italian association of sector operators, also indicates that producing jewelery also seems to be interesting for young people: 28% of middle and high school evaluates a possible inclusion in this area. Yet many companies, especially large ones like Damiani or Bulgari, carry out training activities precisely because it is difficult to find young people with the necessary skills.
Also according to the survey, the interest is greater among students of technical (52%) and professional (40%) institutes. Males seem to be significantly more interested than females. Most would prefer a job in the conception and design phase (64%), followed by those who would like to physically produce the objects (22%), closing those attracted by the marketing and sales part (14%). However, interest in a job in a goldsmith company decreases for high school students: only 13% foresee a placement in this production segment. But those in favor in middle school are 24%.
The survey we conducted confirms our concerns and the need to promote goldsmith professionalism among young people who still have little knowledge of the relevant opportunities that the sector offers, above all for all possible skills: those who are skilled in manual skills, to those who are more creative or passionate about information technology, 3D printing technology or new tools connected to social networks, marketing and the circular economy. There are schools for the profession and they are located not only in the main goldsmith districts. For this reason, with my presidency we are working to bring students closer to a sector that is modern, in step with the times and that needs new talent to consolidate its global leadership.
Claudia Piaserico, president of Confindustria Federorafi
However, this interest clashes with rather vague ideas: only one out of ten young people knows the job prospects of the gold sector and knows that the job prospects offered by the world of jewels are high, given that companies have difficulty finding workers. On the contrary, 32% of respondents believe that it is difficult to find job opportunities in this sector and most (58%) imagine that it follows the general trend of the labor market. Other disinformation: only one in four knows that Italy is among the world’s reference nations for the jewelery industry and almost one in five, on the contrary, thinks that it is not such an important sector for our economy.
Perhaps companies could commit to informing a little more.
