Leonardo: long-term perspectives and employment protection for its Automation business

Rome  10 June 2021 19:34

Ensuring a solid future for Leonardo's Genoa automation hub by taking action on governance, processes, organisation and size, and to protect employment levels. This is the position that the company confirms regarding the prospects for the Genoa Automation Business Unit.

Leonardo's automation reference market requires a lean cost structure and strong operational agility, in a highly competitive context characterised by highly focused, large global players, which over time have imposed a completely new business model based on flexible and multi-platform agreements.

Leonardo is committed to addressing all these aspects to ensure the best prospects for Automation and its workers.

"Among the various options Leonardo is working on, is the search for a partner with an industrial approach - able to acquire Automation over time - who can guarantee the Business Unit long term competitiveness, with an adequate size and capability to dedicate investment. The first step - which Leonardo is already taking - is to make timely targeted interventions within the Automation area to guarantee the Business Unit a flexible and agile cost and governance structure, in line with its reference market, characterised by dynamics different from those typical of the Aerospace, Defence and Security market. These are choices that cannot be postponed if we want to ensure a solid future to this business” commented Simonetta Iarlori, Leonardo's Chief People Organisation and Transformation Officer.

For Leonardo, this path only makes sense if two conditions are met: the long-term perspective and the safeguarding of employment levels. These are essential conditions. This is in line with what Leonardo has always demonstrated in this geographic area, where the company has been able to enhance its business over time, even those activities that are no longer within its perimeter, thus  demonstrating the value of the choices made.

In addition, Leonardo has chosen the city of Genoa to launch its most significant long-term strategic initiative: the creation of the most advanced competence center dedicated to supercomputing, artificial intelligence and the cloud that will lead Leonardo's digitalisation process and contribute significantly to that of the whole country. A project of international resonance and significance, which will perspectively generate widespread value in the city.  With the Universities and research centers of the area such as the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) Leonardo will put in place new skills and new technological areas capable of growing and attracting talent to Genoa. 

Leonardo Labs and Cyber Security activities represent one of Leonardo's long-term strategic development assets, crucial to maintaining the group's competitiveness at a global level. An essential challenge, which will influence the existence of the national manufacturing industry, not only in Genoa.

In this way, we are creating the conditions for the establishment of a new healthy and competitive industrial network. Building the future is based on the ability to make choices of this type, the result of a clear vision, coherent development plans and adequate investments.

This represents for Leonardo an assumption of great responsibility in the interest of people and also the city, for future generations.