The perfect storm looms over the (former) Fabriano district, bled dry by years of crisis and closures, in the days of the farewell to one of the architects of the Marche manufacturing miracle, that Francesco Merloni, captain of industry (parliamentarian and minister) who with the family and the production of household appliances and heating systems has made the fortunes of a region. If the uncertainties raised by the unions on the future of employment at Beko Europe were not enough, the multinational born from the agreement between the Turks of Arcelik (75% of the capital) and Whirlpool (formerly Indesit) with 1,500 employees from the Marche in the Comunanza and Fabriano factories, here the shock of the 195 redundancies in the two production sites of Fabriano and Rocchetta announced by the Fedrigoni Group, owner of the former Cartiere Miliani, which from January 1st will divest Giano, the company branch that deals with the office business. Stop production, start the collective dismissal procedure for almost two hundred employees in a territory “already severely tested by de-industrialization”, to quote Archbishop Massara, who expressed solidarity with the families. Many economists could be asked about how and why, after years and years of dripping, we reached the red depths of the Fabriano district, but here it is enough to point out how the reasons (and consequences) of globalization cross not only the borders of the Marche, but also Italian and European ones, and have had a heavy impact on Italian manufacturing, not only in the Marche region, due to the imbalance between countries, industrial groups and deficits which are all local (“small is not beautiful, but dangerous”, a long-time industrialist has always maintained) . A serious reflection must be opened as soon as possible on the future and vocation of the territory and of a region in search of an author – who is struggling and gradually slipping into the background. Who are we, where do we want to go and what will we do when we grow up? From 2003 to 2022, 180 businesses disappeared in Fabriano, today there are already around 3,700 unemployed people, 2,400 over 45s, and 900 of them do not even receive the monthly Naspi unemployment benefit. It won’t be enough to put yet another patch.
