Yoox Layoffs Threaten Over 200 Jobs in Bologna and Milan
Bologna,Italy – Over 200 employees at Yoox Net-A-Porter (YNAP) in Bologna and Milan face potential layoffs following the company’s sale to German online retailer MyTheresa,finalized this spring. The news has sparked alarm among workers and unions, who criticize the lack of warning and proactive measures to mitigate the impact on employees, many with long tenures at the once-leading luxury e-commerce platform.
The impending job losses represent a notable blow to the Emilia-Romagna region, where YNAP, founded by Federico Marchetti in 2000, was a flagship technology and fashion success story. Workers, some who joined the company during its early “unicorn” phase, now face an uncertain future, potentially losing their jobs without opportunities for retraining or redeployment. “The first request is now that social safety nets are used,” stated Mariano Vendola (Filcams Cgil Bologna). “We live in a territory… in which it is unacceptable that such an impacting dismissal is announced without having opened social safety net procedures, without a cig, a solidarity, without some protections.”
YNAP revolutionized online luxury fashion, merging with British Net-à-Porter in 2015 before being acquired by Swiss luxury goods conglomerate Richemont in 2018, owner of brands like Cartier and Montblanc. Richemont announced the sale to MyTheresa in October 2024, a deal completed in the spring of this year.
Union representatives report being consistently downplayed concerns regarding the company’s economic trajectory. “We often asked about the economic trend and the framework had been minimized to us,” a union source explained.The situation underscores growing anxieties surrounding the future of Italy’s tech sector and the need for stronger worker protections during corporate transitions.