Footwear Goes Digital to Attract Talent in Alicante Province

The lack of qualified workers is one of the major problems facing the footwear industry, which also deals with declining consumption, rising inflation, and international trade issues stemming from global conflicts.

Despite all this, the footwear sector looks to the near future with "optimism" and continues to take steps to mitigate its problems one by one. In this regard, the Valencian Association of Footwear Entrepreneurs (Avecal) has launched a program to digitize talent management and thus access more qualified workers.

This is the goal of the Digitalento program, which aims to promote the use of digital tools that contribute to improved people management and processes for attracting, retaining, and evaluating talent within this industry.

The training, which will be conducted online, is provided by the consulting firm Equipo Humano and structures all content into four modules, which are further divided into eight sessions. The first block explains the current context and analyzes it in terms of employment, talent, and digitization. It also covers other points such as "talent detection and how to digitize it or communicate the company's brand."

In the last module, other tools that allow for digitalizing talent search and management will be discussed. These blocks will delve into aspects directly related to understanding the people who hold human resources positions and what proposals they can make to attract talent.

Additionally, Avecal explains that various mechanisms for talent retention that footwear companies can use will be introduced. This is complemented by an evaluation plan that aims to define competencies in this area within a company and determine interviews and career plans.

The executive president of the regional footwear association, Marián Cano, stated that "this program represents an opportunity for footwear companies to advance in their digital transformation process and in using digital tools to optimize their talent management, thereby strengthening their competitiveness and adaptability."

The Digitalento program is funded by the Directorate General of Industry, according to the aid call from the Ministry of Innovation, Industry, Commerce, and Tourism to promote the reindustrialization of the Valencian Community's economy in 2024.