Employment change in the world of entertainment and events from pre to post Covid

In recent years, especially following the tragic pandemic situation, considerable changes have been observed in numerous industrial sectors. Some of these have been able to adapt to a new structure, others have failed to keep pace with innovation and change, suffering severe losses and economic weakening. We often talk about the devastating effects of the pandemic on the global economy, but can we only consider the negative aspects? In some cases, the Covid-19 pandemic has only accelerated certain innovation processes that had already been underway for years. Think of the concept of smart working: For some multinationals (e.g. Amazon, Google and others) the concept of working from home was already ingrained in corporate structures. The pandemic, in these cases has only taken on the role of a catalyst, forcing even companies that did not envisage this type of work to develop it. In the first part of this thesis work, the events and entertainment sector is considered. An attempt is made to give an overview of the pre-pandemic sector, highlighting its salient features and economic dynamics. Data will be provided on turnover, the number of workers and the ancillary industries connected to this sector (e.g. event tourism). The type of workers in the sector before the Covid-19 pandemic will then be specifically analyzed. Next, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the industry will be considered. The cessation of all kinds of secondary activities and the need for social distancing brought the event world to an almost complete standstill. An attempt will be made, using data from the United States and some European countries, to quantitatively estimate the economic losses that the sector has suffered. Focusing then only on Europe, especially on the Italian situation, the policies implemented by governments to support and sustain workers in the sector will be analyzed and an attempt will be made to assess their effectiveness. Continuing this stream, I will try to understand effectively in this area there have been winners and losers after these pandemic years. To do so, two specific business cases will be considered. In the first case, we will analyze a company, founded as a start-up shortly before the outbreak of the pandemic, which has managed to carve out a certain market segment in the world of hybrid and digital events. It positioned itself as a provider of digital services for this type of event and increased its core business by developing innovative and interactive services to improve the digital experience of users. On the other hand, a traditional event agency will be considered. It will be emphasized that this type of company suffered a huge drop in turnover in the years 2020-2021 because it did not have the necessary skills to adapt quickly to the changing pace of the industry. They had to adapt with difficulty and slowness to a situation that was totally unmanageable for them. Finally, the conclusions of this analysis will be drawn, highlighting the positive aspects that the pandemic has had on innovative companies in the sector and the negative ones on those who have not been able to keep up with the sudden change. Finally, possible future scenarios will be considered, trying to make observations and predictions on what the new face of this sector might be.