Perrone Da Zara: “Here’s my idea to make jobs in the boating sector appealing to young people”

Lido di Camaiore (Lucca) – “I am tired of hearing people talking about sustainability, fuel cell, hydrogen etc…The greatest issue to face in the boating industry are human resources specialised in manufacturing. We need young people willing to specialize in these trades, and it is the duty of the entire sector to find a solution quickly”.

Alberto Perrone Da Zara, the Italian sales director of the refit division of the German Lürssen shipyard – which is the largest shipyard in the world for the construction of pleasure boats – is both passionate and straightforward in explaining his opinion about this matter.

When interviewed by SUPER YACHT 24 during the Yare 2022 show held in Versilia, the experienced Tuscan architect explained his statements at the round table in which he focused on several current matters, expressing his concern especially about the unaltered productive capacity of shipyards despite the high number of super yachts to be delivered in the upcoming years.

“They are all talking about sustainability, which is definitely a very important matter, but our huge problem is the fact that shipyards do not have enough craftsmen, and this shortage will get worse over the years. We  must not forget that it is thanks to workers who are passionate about their job, committed and with great manual skills, that we can obtain almost perfect boats”, declared Perrone Da Zara, emphasizing that “workers are among the most valuable stakeholders taking part in the construction of a superyacht”.

The experienced sales director of the German shipyard Lürssen also added that “in all shipyards most workers are white-haired. For activities such as air conditioning systems, shipyards can always rely on factories, but for all the other interior activities such as marble processing, carpets and other niche furnishings and systems we need experienced and skilled workers. Young people to whom these skills are handed on are very few”.

Alberto Perrone Da Zara did not only point out the well-known difficulties concerning training, but he also suggested a few solutions. “All manufacturing in the superyacht sector could disappear because these jobs are not appealing to young people. Therefore, first of all we should strive to make sure that new generations understand the appeal and beauty of these manufactures which allow for the construction of unique new yachts. We have to get together the representatives of the competent Ministry and of trade unions, as well as the shipyards in order for them to define a program and decide who must invest in this project and how many resources should be invested”.

Moreover, “in order to make these professions appealing we have to make them known, attract young people’s attention and explain to them that they can also be very profitable, but especially we have to get them involved by organizing open days, inviting schools at boat shows, welcoming joiners and design studios”. In short, we have to explain what it means to work for and on a yacht.

The experienced Italian architect concluded by pointing out that “shipyards will soon rely only on foreign workers (Bulgarian, Albanian etc…) as they are more eager to work than others, but it would be better if they could employ also Italians in Italy and Germans in Germany”, where there are very few manufacturing workers.

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