47.77% Believe that the Gucci Strike Could Affect Its Image

About 50 Gucci employees in Italy have gone on strike in protest against plans to relocate a significant part of its design studio team from Rome to Milan in what they claim is a “mass redundancy in disguise”. Real Research, an online survey app, launched a survey on Gucci’s first strike in its 102 year history.

Highlights:

• Around 39.43% stated that Gucci’s office relocation notice is very reasonable.
• 29.87% completely agree with the employees’ claim that the real goal of the relocation is staff reduction.
• 52.57% agreed to a collective dismissal because not everyone was offered a transfer.

102-Year-First Gucci Strike

According to The Guardian, the Italian luxury brand Gucci’s historic strike was a first in 102 years since the company was founded. This was prompted after notifying members of its design team to be transferred to its Milan office.

Real Research, the online survey app, asked its respondents if they were aware of this. 43.77% responded that they were completely aware of Gucci’s historic strike, 38.52% were vaguely aware, and 17.72% were completely unaware.

When the relocation to the Milan office was announced, the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL) expressed opposition, stating that the company’s decision was unreasonable and that staff reductions were its real goal.

The respondents of the Real Research survey were asked if they thought Gucci’s office relocation notice was reasonable. Around 39.43% stated that this decision was “very reasonable”, 41.28% felt it was “somewhat reasonable”, 14.35% said it was “somewhat unreasonable”, and 4.93% asserted that it was “very unreasonable.”

Milan Office Relocation

Reportedly, some employees went on Gucci’s historic strike for four hours in front of the Rome office, with a banner that read, “Layoffs are popular at Gucci.” When asked to what extent they agreed with the employees’ claim that the real goal of this office relocation is staff reduction, the responses were as such: “Completely agree” (29.87%), “Somewhat agree” (55.97%), “Somewhat disagree” (11.88%), and “Completely disagree” (2.28%).

Economic Support To The Affected Employees

Federica Ricci, secretary of the Lazio regions Filctem-CGIL union, said the company’s decision was “a collective dismissal because not everyone was offered the conditions to allow the transfer.” The survey respondents were asked if they agreed with this statement. While a majority of 52.57% agreed, 47.43% disagreed.

Gucci stated that “this relocation did not consider any staff reduction, and the transfer will be carried out fully in compliance with regulations.” The company also added that it would support the affected employees economically. The public was asked if they thought Gucci’s historic strike would affect the company’s image. The responses were: “Absolutely” (47.77%), “Probably” (42.82%), “Probably not” (7.37%), and “Absolutely not” (2.05%).