Project examines ways of bringing young people into the shoe sector
A two-year project run by the European Footwear Confederation (CEC), Italian footwear manufacturers’ association Assocalzaturifici and trade union organisation IndustriAll Europe has found that in-company apprenticeships are an important tool for bringing young people into the shoe industry and keeping them.
The project tested various approaches to the challenge of presenting footwear as an appealing sector for young people to work in. Project partners found that incorporating new technologies into training material and using technology providers as well as vocational education and training centres to deliver training helped present a more accurate picture of what it is like to work in a footwear company today.
Assocalzaturifici president, Siro Badon, said it was important to make the positive aspects of the sector better known to young people. He said the European footwear sector offers exciting career opportunities that must be presented as such to younger generations.
