Crafts in crisis. In Friuli Venezia Giulia, a 19.9% decline in the number of professionals in 10 years.

Artisans are increasingly older and harder to find, raising fears of the future extinction of some manual art specialists. This is the root of the profound crisis in the artisanal sector, which has seen a decline of over 20% in the number of professionals nationwide in 10 years, a situation that has also hit the Friuli Venezia Giulia region hard. This is what a study by the CGIA Research Office in Mestre highlights, according to which the region's population has dropped from 38,885 in 2014 to 31,128 in 2024. In an analysis of individual provinces, Gorizia recorded the most significant decline, equal to 23.2%; Udine follows with a -21.2%; then Pordenone, -20.7%; and finally Trieste, which limited the negative trend to -11.9%. Competition from large-scale retail trade and e-commerce, as well as rising taxes and rents, are also blamed; however, consumers are not immune, given their tendency to favor mass production and home delivery, disfavoring handmade and custom-made products. The steep decline was mitigated only by the infrastructure sector, which benefited from investments related to the PNRR and the 110% Superbonus. The real countertrend was seen in the wellness sectors, with an increase in the number of hairdressers, beauticians, pizza makers, and ice cream makers, and in the IT sector, thanks to the growing number of system engineers, video makers, and web marketers.

Possible solutions, in addition to the long-awaited political reform of Framework Law No. 443/1985 on crafts, include the proposal to establish a management income for commercial and artisan workshops, for those who manage or open a business in smaller towns; the training sector is also being considered.