Speaking of work ethic in Italy in one of the most difficult historical periods since the post-war period seems somewhat thorny. The global economic crisis and the consequent rampant unemployment are leading to a gradual loss of the rights acquired by workers in the years of the economic boom. Small and medium-sized companies oppressed by high taxation, strangled by customers who impose a war to the bottom, lead to the creation of an immense undergrowth of workers without fixed contracts and underpaid who produce garments with a mediocre quality because to survive they focus on quantity and not on quality. This is exactly the working environment with which we have always (and forever) avoided interacting as it has no bearing on our way of conceiving work. Instead, at the cost of immense efforts and great effort, over time we have selected either customers willing to pay a fair amount for a job well done and workshops that respect the work ethic by focusing on quality. In the laboratories we collaborate with, employees are protected, have normal employment contracts, work in clean, tidy and safe environments and are treated in a manner that respects their rights and their person. The operators who take care of the production of our garments are satisfied to collaborate with us because we ask them not only to simply perform, but also to feel free to think and propose ideas and solutions in improving the realization of the garments, expressing the best their abilities. Every single worker feels appreciated for his good work and encouraged to do better and better, giving each garment an added value that will never be perceived in garments belonging to mass production in which there are depersonalizing and coercive environments. Our artisan workshops and their employees are happy to be part of the Hoplites
Group because for us they are not numbers but human beings in which every single element, from the cutter, to the pattern maker, to the sewing operator, to the ironer, to the forwarder, are extremely precious: a resource to be protected and o enable to thrive.
