Prada Group Invests in Major Hiring Plan Committing to Industrial Strategy
MILAN — Prada Group is setting the foundations for future growth by extending its investments in human resources and in its industrial strategy.
On Thursday, the luxury company revealed it is planning to hire more than 400 people by the end of the year to strengthen its production capacity and craftsmanship expertise in Italy.
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“Prada Group continues to invest in its supply chain, consistent with what was announced during our Capital Markets Day at the end of 2021. We have an ongoing commitment to strengthen the industrial backbone of the group, while being respectful of our longtime suppliers,” said industrial director Massimo Vian.
The investment will guarantee greater agility and a reduction of time-to-market. The group already carries out all quality checks on raw materials and finished products, and manages all logistics internally.
As of Dec. 31, 2022, the group owned 24 factories. Out of the 13,700 employees globally, 3,700 are employed in industrial chains around the world. Of these, 3,200 work in Italy. In the country, the group has a total of 5,300 employees.
A considerable proportion of the new positions will be filled by students of the Prada Group Academy, where new entrants will learn manual and craft skills.
The academy, which was founded in the early 2000s, “will become increasingly crucial for the future preservation of our know-how and the one of the sector,” said Vian, a former Luxottica executive who joined Prada in 2020. “We feel a responsibility to invest in young talent who will become the next generation of expert craftspeople.”
More than 200 new professionals will be trained over the next year across leather goods, footwear and ready-to-wear.
The group will also establish a new permanent branch of the Prada Group Academy at its Scandicci plant, near Florence, dedicated to leather craftsmanship. Around 30 students will be part of the first program there.
The new positions will be opened across some of Prada Group’s main manufacturing facilities in Italy, including around 100 new hires in Scandicci, representing a 50 percent increase in the current workforce.
Following the construction of an expanded factory designed by Guido Canali at its leather goods facility in Piancastagnaio, near Siena, Prada plans to hire 50 new employees, representing a 50 percent increase in the current workforce. By November, the goal is to add 85 new hires in Torgiano, near Perugia, at the group’s knitwear facility. Also, more than 200 additional jobs will be created at over 10 additional leather goods, footwear and ready-to-wear sites, mainly across the Tuscany, Umbria and Marche regions.
Propelled by a strong growth of its Prada and Miu Miu brands across all product categories, the group is on an upward trajectory. As reported earlier this month, the company’s full-year results beat analysts’ expectations and achieved margin targets ahead of schedule. In 2022, net profit soared 58 percent to 465 million euros on the back of a 25 percent gain in revenues to 4.2 billion euros.
In his first conference call with analysts to comment those results, former Luxottica and LVMH executive Andrea Guerra, who joined Prada this year as group chief executive officer, pointed to the expansion of its manufacturing capabilities.
“In 2023, we expect revenue growth to remain solid and above the market average,” he said.
In 2022, sales of leather goods rose 18 percent to 1.86 billion euros; ready-to-wear was up 27 percent to 1.08 billion euros, and footwear revenues grew 29 percent to 691 million euros.
Prada is part of the Fashion Pact and in 2021 further committed to corporate social responsibility, reaffirming its objectives and starting a process to measure its carbon footprint after years of investing in the construction, refurbishment and efficiency of the industrial facilities, as well as in photovoltaics and renewable energy.
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