Labour market information: Italy

The Italian labour market differs widely between the regions. Industrial activity is mostly concentrated in the north, while people in southern regions mainly work in agriculture and tourism. The most typical sectors in order of GDP size (2021) are: services (GDP EUR 281 264 million), manufacturing (GDP EUR 76 359 million), construction (GDP EUR 20 261 million), agriculture (GDP EUR 7 729 million). The most common type of contract on offer is fixed-term (55.5%) and full-time. The qualification most requested is an upper secondary school diploma.

The last few years have seen a steady decline in the Italian population to a historical low in January 2022, with a total of 58 983 122 people residing in Italy. The number of people with foreign citizenship stands at around 5 193 000 (8% of the population) with a higher co‏ncentration in north-western regions. 46.3% of Italians reside in northern Italy, 19.8% in central Italy and 33.8% in the south and islands. The most populous regions are Lombardy, Veneto, Lazio, Campania and Sicily. However, the demographic crisis is most evident in southern Italy, particularly in Molise, Basilicata and Calabria.

After the negative effects on the economy caused by the pandemic, 2021 saw higher-than-expected GDP growth (+ 6.2%) and a continuous improvement in the employment situation until pre-crisis positions were restored. Compared to March 2021, the number of jobseekers decreased in March 2022 (- 16.6%) and the inactivity rate fell to pre-pandemic levels (34.5%). The unemployment rate stands at 8.30% compared to 9.3% in October 2021, while youth unemployment stands at 24.5% compared to 27.6% in October 2021. Unfortunately, as at January 2022, the percentage of NEETs (aged 15-29) is still among the highest in Europe (23.10%). Since April 2021, the labour force participation rate has increased by 1.2% to 65.5% in March 2022.

Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the Italian economy has experienced signs of slowdown due to the uncertain outlook and the energy and raw material supply crisis. The sector showing the greatest reaction is the services sector, which recorded strong growth in May 2022 (+ 30% compared to the previous month), due in particular to the recovery of the tourism sector. The manufacturing and construction sectors have slowed down (- 4.4% and - 0.9% respectively), especially when compared to one year ago (- 18.8% and - 27.5% respectively).

The latest forecasts produced by the Excelsior Unioncamere/ANPAL Information System show a need for 1 531 450 workers for the period May to July 2022. Most of these (1 209 060) are required by the services sector (particularly business, tourism and catering services), followed by industry with 322 400 expected new hires, mainly in the manufacturing and public utilities sectors. The provinces recording the highest revenues are Rome, Milan and Naples, while those offering the most opportunities for young people are Trieste, Reggio Emilia and Cuneo.

A total of 444 310 new hires are expected for May 2022, of which most (126 690) will require a secondary education qualification. The most difficult roles to fill, however, are those requiring a tertiary level of education (45.5% of vacant posts), particularly in the field of dentistry (68.6% vacant posts), healthcare and paramedical fields (58.9%), and mathematical, physical and computer sciences (58.5%). These are followed by roles requiring a vocational qualification or diploma (43.5% of vacancies), particularly in the textile and clothing sector (72%), motor vehicle repair (68.8%), electricians (57.3%) and the well-being sector (56%). Roles that are difficult to fill requiring a secondary education level account for 39.3% of the total. Most jobs are available in the fields of mechanics, mechatronics, and energy (62.1%); electronics and electrical engineering (47.2%); IT and telecommunications (46%), and industrial and craft production and maintenance (45.2%).

GREEN ECONOMY

Investments stemming from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) will be important for the recovery of the Italian economy. In particular, ecological and digital transition actions will increase the demand for jobs in the green economy, IT and telecommunications sectors (‘green jobs’). The NRRP earmarks 37% of investment and reform expenditure to support climate objectives, and 20% to support the digital transition.

The budget for the green revolution and the ecological transition is EUR 59.46 billion. This covers the circular economy and sustainable agriculture (EUR 5.27 billion), renewable energy and sustainable mobility (EUR 23.78 billion), energy efficiency and building renovation (EUR 15.36 billion), and land preservation (EUR 15.05 billion). These investments will drive growth in employment across many economic sectors, but particularly in mechatronics (especially electricity and electronics), agri-food, fittings and construction. New sectoral supply chains will also be able to develop as resources are dedicated to technologies related to hydrogen, satellites, microelectronics, the development of a European battery industry, and the strengthening of cybersecurity and the Cloud. Finally, a new supply of goods and services will be developed in many segments, with primarily green and digital products, digital services related to telemedicine, smart mobility, electric cars, and sustainable mobility.

The greatest demand for green jobs will be in the following areas: for the construction sector, sustainable architects, designers of sustainable buildings and installers of low environmental impact air-conditioning systems; for mechanics, experts in electric motor systems and/or component technologies; for the environment, environmental IT specialists to develop environmental software and applications, environmental lawyers, mobility managers, energy managers and eco-designers. In addition, the number of professionals required with a mix of at least two e-skills (i.e. basic digital skills, ability to use mathematical and IT languages and methods and ability to manage innovative solutions) is estimated at between 875 000 and 959 000, more than 20% of the total. These include software analysts and designers, electronic and telecommunications engineers, programming technicians and network and telematic system operators.

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For the 5-period 2022-2026, some 40 000 ICT technicians will be recruited mainly by the IT and telecommunications industry, together with mathematics and computer science specialists (30 000). There is also a need for technicians in organisational and financial activities (120-130 000), management, construction and environmental engineers, architects (some 50 000 in total), social science and management specialists (e.g. market analysts, marketing specialists and social media managers). The demand for engineers will top 50% in advanced business support services to companies in the consultancy sector and 20% (mechanical and electronic engineers) in the mechatronics and robotics sector, which will also require technicians, specialised mechanics and industrial equipment assemblers. The construction industry mainly needs workers specialising in construction and the maintenance of building structures and construction finishers (around 220 000), as well as construction engineers and technicians (around 25 000). Demand in the health sector will be concentrated on healthcare technicians (such as nurses, physiotherapists, radiologists and laboratory technicians), doctors and qualified healthcare and social services professionals.

Throughout Italy, 38.3% of the jobs on offer remain unfilled, particularly in the sectors of metalworking (52.6%), wood and furniture (50.4%), mechatronics (49.2%), IT and communications services (49.2%), textiles, clothing and footwear (47.4%). Finding candidates remains particularly difficult for businesses in the north-east (42.0%), followed by those in the north-west (41.1%), centre (36.3%) and south and islands (34.8%).

The professional groups within which it is very difficult to find candidates are, in descending order, pharmacists, biologists, and other life science specialists (55%), doctors and other healthcare specialists (46%), managers and directors (44%), IT, physics and chemical specialists (33%), metalworking and electromechanical workers (37%), beauty care workers (34%), workers specialising in the wood and paper industry (32%), social welfare workers (32%), specialist workers and plant operators in the textile, clothing and footwear industry (31%), chefs, waiters and other tourist service professions (23%), and reception, information and customer support workers (17%).

In May 2022, 444 310 recruitments are planned throughout Italy, the highest number of which is planned in the south and islands (133 260), followed by the north-west (114 840), centre (98 270) and north-east (97 940). The largest expected number of hires for commercial and service professions is in the north-east (42.4%) followed by the south and islands (40.6%); specialised workers, plant and machine operators are most needed in the north-west (25.9%), north-east, south and islands (24%); managers, specialised professions and technicians in the north-west (22.7%). Service jobs are most common in central Italy (40.1%).

Unemployment figures are typically high in southern areas of Italy. ISTAT data for the last quarter of 2021 show an unemployment rate of 15.8% in southern Italy, a very high rate compared to that in other parts of the country (central Italy 8.4%, north-west 6.1%, north 5.8% and lastly north-east 5.5%).

The regions with the highest unemployment rates are Sicily (48.8%), Calabria (47%) and Campania (44.8%). The lowest unemployment rates are recorded in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano (9.1%), Trentino Alto Adige (12.1%) and the Autonomous Province of Trento (15.9%).

The gender employment gap remains among the highest in Europe. Female unemployment in Italy stands at 9.9% (last quarter of 2021) compared with 8.9% for men. The highest level of female unemployment is recorded in southern Italy with 17.3%, followed by central Italy with 9.3%. The regions with the highest female unemployment rates are Sicily and Calabria (56.7%).

The youth unemployment rate stood at 24.50% in March 2022.

It was inevitable that the economic difficulties resulting from the pandemic would affect the labour market, highlighting a marked deterioration in conditions. In Valle d’Aosta, employment trends fell by - 1.9% in 2020. This means that, on average, there were about a thousand fewer people in employment than the average levels for the previous 3-year period (2017-2019), However, partly because of the greater contraction in the workforce (- 3.2%), the number of people seeking employment did not rise but actually tended to fall. However, this tendency was associated with a significant increase in inactivity (+ 3.6%), particularly in the potential labour force (+ 27.8%), almost certainly reflecting a significant potential pool of unemployment.

The fall in employment is mainly attributable to the constraints caused by the health emergency (closure of non-essential productive sectors and travel restrictions). Despite the fact that the social ‘safety nets’ and the freeze on redundancies have helped to support people in work, at least those in official employment, the suspension of activities has been severely detrimental to the arrangement of new contracts, in particular fixed-term contracts, possible extensions to such contracts or conversions of fixed-term contracts to permanent contracts.

Again, with reference to the previous 3-year period, the fall in employment in 2020 relates to both men’s and women’s employment, but the former has fallen more than the latter, by - 2.4% as compared with - 1.9%, in contrast to the picture at national level. Almost all sectors are affected by the negative trend. In particular, agriculture has seen a reduction in employment of 20.1%, industry 3.2%, and services of 2.3%, with employment in the sales, hotel and restaurant sectors falling by 4% and industry contracting by 3.6%.

At the same time, there has been a marked increased use of the Supplementary Wages Fund (CIG), which in 2020 exceeded 5 100 000 authorised hours, almost two and a half times higher than in 2009, the worst year of the previous economic crisis; in theory, more than 3 000 workers could have received income from this source.

As a result of the above factors, in 2020 the number of people employed was on average just under 54 000, the labour force stood at around 57 300, there were around 3 300 unemployed people and the potential workforce stood at around 3 700 individuals.

As a result of the crisis caused by the pandemic, demand for employment has experienced a significant slowdown. Employment requirements have in fact contracted by about 30% compared to the previous 3-year period, the latter figure dropping to - 33.4% for women, while for men the reduction was - 26.7%. The number of people recruited has declined by 18%.

From a sectoral point of view, when 2020 figures and those for the the 3-year period 2017-2019 were compared, the most significant drop in recruitment was in manufacturing activities (a drop of - 43.5%), trade (- 36%), hotels and catering (- 45%) and transport (- 35.5%), although it should be stressed that about half the drop in new hires is accounted for by the hotels and catering sector alone.

The most common form of recruitment was clearly for fixed-term jobs (just under 90% of employment relationships). More than a quarter of the demand for work flow is accounted for by the hotels and catering industry.

Recruitment as a whole in Valle d’Aosta involved more than 340 different candidate profiles, but the top 15 occupations accounted for nearly 60% of the total labour demand flow, thus highlighting the fact that the professional needs of businesses are concentrated in a relatively small number of occupations.

The workers in greatest demand, as further confirmation of the expansion of the tertiary sector, are waiters and similar occupations, cooks and sales assistants. Other occupations with higher recruitment levels include teachers in various institutions and at various levels, care workers, bar staff and similar occupations, administrative assistants, various low-skilled occupations (cleaners, unskilled catering workers, unskilled agricultural labourers), receptionists, some industrial occupations (automated machine tool operators), domestic workers and similar occupations.

The characteristics of the current quarter and the speed of change make it difficult to outline regional trends. From the point of view of employment dynamics, however, it can be assumed, in line with economic developments and in view of the demographic characteristics, that employment in tertiary activities will grow further, and that the proportion of women will increase.

In 2020, the unemployed were, again, mainly male, while, in terms of age, 54% of people seeking work were aged 35 years and over, compared to 22% who were young people aged under 25. In 2020, some 62% of jobseekers had previously had a job which they had lost, while a little over a quarter had previously been inactive, with the rest being unemployed (or those seeking their first jobs).

The potential labour force is a segment of the labour market that needs to be properly analysed, as it potentially includes people seeking work, although they do not fall within the definition of unemployed people in official statistics. In 2020, the potential labour force amounted to around 3 700 individuals, a number which has increased significantly, especially last year as a result of the pandemic. In line with the potential labour force trend, there is also a marked growth in non-participation in the labour market, which rose as high as 11% in 2020, compared to 5.4% in 2007.

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According to ISTAT data, in 2020 the population of Piedmont fell from 4 312 000 to 4 273 210. This means that Piedmont has about 38 790 fewer residents (- 0.9%) than in 2019. The population decline is a wider issue that must be taken into account when interpreting the other statistical data.

In 2020, the COVID-19 health emergency and the measures introduced to combat it led to the activities of entire productive sectors being suspended, giving rise to unprecedented shockwaves in the labour market, including in Piedmont. The freeze on redundancies and the supplementary wages fund, however, prevented the effects on employment and the economy from being as marked as they would otherwise have been.

Overall, in 2020, there were approximately 1 778 000 people in employment, compared to 1 829 000 in 2019, i.e. a percentage decline of 2.8%.

55.6% were men and 44.6% were women.

The drop in employment affected all age groups, with the exception of the over 50s (+ 1.3%).

The decline in employment of around 52 000 people was due to a marked downturn in agriculture (- 5.3%) and in trade and tourism (- 4.4%), as well as a sizeable contraction in other service activities (- 3.6%).

Industry declined in line with the overall average, seeing a drop of 2.8%.

The only growing sector was the construction sector (with a rise of 10.9%), driven by the 2020 Relaunch Decree.

In 2020, employment fell by 1.6%, while for self-employment the contraction was much greater (6.6%).

The reduction affected part-time employees to a greater extent (8.8%), while full-time employees experienced a lower-than-average decline (1.4%).

In 2020, the biggest decline was among those with less advanced qualifications. In contrast, the trends recorded for those in employment with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees were stable.

In 2020, job-seeking unemployed people fell by 7 000 compared to 2019, while the number of inactive people (those who do not have a job and are not looking for one) increased. The total of individuals outside the labour force rose by 41 000 compared to 2019.

A large gender gap remained in 2020, with approximately 13.6 percentage points separating men's (71.4%) and women’s (57.8%) employment rates.

The unemployment rate of 7.5% remained stable compared to 2019.

At 24.6%, the unemployment rate for young people (15-24 years) in Piedmont in 2020 continued to be markedly higher than the European average (15.2%) but lower than the national average (29.4%).

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The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant repercussions on employment, changing the labour landscape and favouring the rise of certain specific occupational profiles.

In Piedmont, the 2020 analysis shows a shift in demand for occupational profiles from the industry sector to the services sector. In particular, there was a strong demand for scientific and intellectual professions, linked to demand for digital skills, and for all health professions (up by 49%). There has been an increase in the proportion of managers, specialists, technicians and skilled workers, while the proportion of middle managers has fallen. Demand for digital, green and transversal skills remains very strong.

The 2020 analyses show that what the most sought-after professions have in common are soft skills: the ability to adapt to change, problem-solving skills, teamwork abilities and the capacity to think creatively.

The professions most in demand are:

• intellectuals and scientists: software developers, engineering specialists, system analysts, advertising and marketing specialists, health and nursing specialists
• semi-skilled technical workers: skilled workers, secretaries responsible for administrative and executive tasks
• unskilled workers: delivery and goods transport personnel

Emerging professions:

sales and marketing, product development, engineering, care economy, data and AI

Specialists in IT, physics and chemistry are the most difficult skilled workers to find in Piedmont.

The COVID-19 health emergency has deeply disrupted the socio-economic situation in Piedmont and altered the supply and demand ratio in jobs.

The employment situation has deteriorated, affecting the most vulnerable workers, workers in the tourism sector, the arts and entertainment sector and the public sector in general. Low-skilled workers, young people who have dropped out of school and, to some extent, young people with diplomas or degrees on some courses of study, where supply outstrips demand, have experienced great difficulties.

In Piedmont, the data for the 5-year period 2019-2023 collected before the COVID-19 emergency demonstrated a surplus of individuals qualified to work in the following sectors: tourism, food and wine, hospitality, agri-food, agro-industry and social and health care, and those with degrees in political and social sciences, motor sciences, geo-biological subjects, agrarian and agri-food and psychological subjects.

Among these, only the social health sector, within the care economy, has seen increased demand, due to the health emergency.

In 2019, planned recruitment by businesses in the industry and services sector in Lombardy was 961 880 employees, considering all types of employment contracts. One of the most significant qualitative aspects was considerable difficulty in finding staff, affecting 28% of the worker profiles required. Young people aged under 29 accounted for 28.4% of total income.

Other features of regional employment (%): 34% replacement of outgoing staff, 32% new profiles not yet present in the company, 16% immigrant staff, 14% coordination profiles, 32% personnel responsible for applying innovative/creative solutions. 59% of companies intend to take on staff.

The main sectors of activity seeking young people are motor vehicles and motorcycle retail, wholesale and repair, accommodation and catering services; tourism services, advanced business support services, metal-working and metal products industries, transport, logistics and storage services.

Main skills required: communication in Italian and foreign languages, mathematics, IT and digital skills, ability to apply ‘4.0’ technologies, teamwork, problem-solving, working independently, flexibility and adaptability, energy savings and environmental sustainability.

Expected income by level of education in 2019 (%): degree 17%, diploma 35%, professional qualification/diploma 39%, education up to school-leaving age 9%.

In the first quarter of 2020, when the COVID-19 health emergency started, the number of people employed in Lombardy remained essentially stable, interrupting the series of positive signs that had been observed over the previous seven quarters.

The number of workers was 4 472 000, a change of - 0.1% compared with the same period in 2019.

The employment rate, calculated for the 15-64 age group, showed a sharper decrease, dropping from 68.4% to 67.9% in one year, but it was still decidedly higher than the national average (58.4%), ranking fourth among the Italian regions (after Trentino-Alto Adige, Emilia-Romagna and Valle d’Aosta).

The fact that it was impossible to look for jobs resulted in a fall in the unemployment rate (from 6.3% to 4.8%) and a rise in inactivity.

The number of hours for which supplementary wages were paid increased on an annual basis (by 12.9%), but the increase was still due to the economic slowdown in 2019; the effect of COVID-19 was more evident in the most recent figures for April and May.

However, the deterioration of the labour market was already visible in the first quarter, according to flow data obtained from regulatory reporting: the balance between new hires and those leaving work fell to about one third of that recorded in previous years.

The ability to respond to the crisis seems to be related to a certain extent to a business’s size and, of course, to the sector it operated in. In general, there is a positive attitude regarding the ability to keep operations going, in both industrial and handicraft businesses, but opinions seem to differ on the ability to recover losses, which may take more than a year or may be impossible to recover entirely. (This figure seems significant in industrial SMEs, at 32.7%, and in handicraft businesses of all sizes, with figures ranging from 28.2% to 36.6%).

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The main job opportunities in 2019 were, in order of proportion: skilled workers, managers and highly specialised professionals, technical occupations, plant managers and operators of fixed and mobile machinery, skilled trading and services occupations, white-collar workers, unskilled workers. Professions.

The percentage of new hires per business sector is: 39.9% production of goods and provision of services, 21.9% trading and sales activities, 14.4% engineering and design, 12.5% logistics, 6.1% administration, 5.2% general and management services.

Professions most in demand in the region in 2019: restaurant staff (25%, recruitment difficulty), sales (14%, recruitment difficulty), unskilled staff for cleaning services (10%, recruitment difficulty), technical experts for market relations (31%, recruitment difficulty), motor vehicle drivers (31%, recruitment difficulty), unskilled staff for handling and delivering goods (9%, recruitment difficulty).

In the first quarter of 2020, the effects of the health emergency were particularly marked in trading and services activities (+ 6 000 compared to + 44 000 in 2019), the sector most affected by the lockdown measures and the sector in which temporary, often short-term, contracts are most widespread. There were also significant reductions in net employment balances in the industrial sector (+ 7 000 compared to + 16 000) and in the construction sector (+ 2 000 compared to + 7 000), while agriculture was less affected (+ 8 000 compared to + 10 000), partly because the closures imposed to contain the virus did not apply to this sector at all.

Unfortunately, the industrial production index in Lombardy shows, as expected, a significant drop in the first quarter of 2020.

Lombardy, however, is still in a better position than the rest of Italy, demonstrating once again its potential and placing itself in an excellent position for a recovery that is sorely needed. The change in trend in the manufacturing production index is negative, and very small (- 10.1%) compared to the national change of - 11.7%.

The sectors with outcomes in this quarter that clearly outstrip the total index value for industrial production as a whole are: hi-tech sectors, sectors with innovation targeted at improving processes and products, including the electronics and pharmaceutical industries; specialised sectors, including the precision mechanics sector, machinery, and areas where innovation is targeted at improving performance, reliability and customisation. The four categories of sectors all show a decline in the industrial production index, but where innovation plays a greater role the results are better.

For the first time since 2015, there has been a decline in employment in the industrial sector, although it is modest compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. However, quarterly data on the balance of new hires and people leaving jobs indicate a slight increase.

The leather and footwear sectors already had a high level of recourse to the supplementary wages fund in the periods prior to the closure of businesses, while in others (such as the food and chemical sectors) the levels were below average. Given that sectors with lower levels are also those least affected by mandatory closures, it is realistic to think (at least) in terms of a two-speed recovery.

The chemical and food industries suffered very modest losses (of 1.4% and 1.7% respectively) and were the sectors least affected by closures, with more than 90% of local units allowed to remain open. Next comes the paper sector (with losses of 6.8%), which mainly includes companies that print newspapers and magazines, produce paper packaging or manufacture hygiene products in paper and cellulose wadding, activities that were not suspended by decree. The rubber/plastics sector also fell less than the regional average (by 7.5%), as about one third of the local units were allowed to remain operational during lockdown, in particular companies producing plastic packaging often intended for food.

The mixed manufacturing sector is an exception. Although around 40% of local units were able to remain operational, production fell by 14%. In this very diverse sector, firms that produce medical/diagnostic devices and medical/surgical equipment did not suffer a significant decline in production, but this was not sufficient to offset the negative trend experienced by other businesses in the sector, such as clothing, which suffered a drastic closure, or companies which, although not obliged to close, nevertheless suspended their activities as a precaution.

Overall, in cases where activity was either converted or increased there was a positive response, accounting for 7.8% in the industrial sector and 5% in the artisan sector.

As was expected, the sectors benefiting from the current situation were food and chemical/pharmaceutical (16.5% and 15.6% respectively), while those most adversely affected (more than 70%) were rubber and plastics, leather goods and footwear, mechanical engineering, wood and furniture, non-metallic minerals and means of transport. The analysis of companies that shifted their operations significantly is relatively surprising, as can be seen in the case of clothing (which stands out with 26.5% of cases) and, with considerably lower rates, the textile (7.3%), chemical (5.4%) and food (4.3%) industries. It is easy to link these data to the need for new personal protective equipment, such as masks and disinfectants in general.

In 2019 the overall unemployment rate was 5.6% (4.7% for men and 6.8% for women).

The supplementary wages fund increased year on year, paying for about 36 million hours in 2018 and over 41 million hours in 2019. The increase related entirely to the ordinary supplementary wages fund and ranged between 17 and more than 22 million hours requested. The extraordinary supplementary wages fund, on the other hand, remained stable at between 18 and 19 million hours. Within that figure, however, as regards the ratio between solidarity based on specific triggers and changes due to crisis/reorganisation, the former dropped from 9.6 to 7.2 million hours, while the latter increased from 9 to 11.7 million hours. In the provinces of Milan, Lodi, Pavia and Sondrio the rate remained stable, with a slight fall (maximum - 6%) in Sondrio, a slight rise (+ 9%) in Varese and growth of between 25% and 50% in Como, Bergamo, Cremona, Lecco and Brescia, in that order. In Mantua, the increase was 129%. From 2018 to 2019, supplementary wages fund payouts fell in the agri-food sector (- 90%) and in construction (- 21%), remained stable in the graphics publishing sector, experienced a slight increase in the trade sector (+ 11%), fluctuated between 30% and 42% in the engineering, chemical/plastics and textile sectors, and increased by 57% in transport and by 98% in services.

The suspension of many economic activities in March 2020, implemented to combat the spread of the virus, prevented many people from actively seeking work and making themselves immediately available, which are two conditions required for meeting the definition of ‘unemployed’.

In the first quarter of 2020 the number of unemployed people in Lombardy was estimated at 227 000 individuals, representing a year-on-year change of - 24.5%. The fall concerned previously unemployed people (- 21.6%), inactive people (- 25.3%) and those seeking their first jobs (- 31%). The downward trend in unemployment has in fact persisted for a few years, but most recently, had slowed. COVID-19 accelerated the process, although in this case it is not an encouraging sign, but rather a temporary statistical effect that could be the prelude to a subsequent rise in unemployment. The unemployment rate therefore stands at 4.8%, a drop of 1.5 percentage points on an annual basis, with the reduction applying to both sexes: for women the rate has fallen from 7.3% to 5.7% (- 1.6 percentage points) while for men it has fallen from 5.5% to 4.1% (- 1.4 percentage points).

The slight decline in employment and the more marked decline in jobseeker numbers have led to a decline in the activity rate, which was 71.5%, compared to 73.1% in the previous year (- 1.6 percentage points). The positive trend in recent years, which at the end of 2019 had led to an increase of more than 3 percentage points in labour market participation levels compared to 2007, mainly due to the employment trend among women, has thus been interrupted (an increase of more than 5 percentage points over a 12-year period). The number of inactive people increased in the last quarter (+ 3.1%), but, as we have already mentioned, in many cases this was ‘forced’ inactivity as a result of the lockdown measures: many people could return to the labour market as economic activity recovers.

The balance between new contracts signed and contracts terminated was + 24 000, in a quarter in which, in previous years, the figure was three times higher (+ 77 000 in 2019, + 74 000 in 2018 and + 78 000 in 2017). The decrease is largely due to fixed-term contracts (a balance of + 5 000 movements compared to + 49 000 in 2019), which in many cases were not renewed once they had expired. The effects of COVID-19 on permanent contracts have, for the time being, been limited (a balance of + 11 000 compared to + 16 000 in the previous year), and this is partly due to the government-imposed freeze on redundancies.

The hours for which supplementary wages were paid in the first 3 months of 2020 amounted to a cost of EUR 10.4 million, which was an increase compared to the same period in the previous year (+ 12.9%), but lower than the cost in the previous quarter, when the cost of the hours authorised was EUR 14 million. The figure for the first quarter was not influenced by the consequences of the health emergency, but still reflects the slowdown suffered by the Lombardy economy in 2019. The increase recorded on an annual basis relates only to the ordinary component (7.3 million hours, + 43.7%), while the extraordinary component fell (3.1 million hours, - 25%) and the wage guarantee fund under exceptional arrangements was zero. The administrative time required to handle requests actually shifted the significant growth in the wage guarantee fund on grounds of ‘COVID-19’ to the second quarter. The figure was already exceptional according to the data available for April and May 2020, when almost 300 million hours were authorised to be paid by the wage guarantee fund in just 2 months, bringing the figure above the overall level of 2009, the year of the international financial crisis.

The use of the wage guarantee fund at regional level and therefore the rate of wage guarantee fund hours as a proportion of the rate of hours for the quarter varied from 1.7% in the province of Cremona to 8.5% in that of Lodi, thus demonstrating significant geographical variation between the provinces.

The period considered (May to October 2021) was supposed to herald a return to normality, and in many areas this was the case. But not for everyone. Once again, the economy directly or indirectly linked to tourism and catering and the related labour market was most affected by the chaos that the pandemic left in its wake. Another significant new factor for hoteliers, restaurants and farmers was that they did not have the usual pool of foreign residents at their disposal. A comparison shows that, with the exception of the tourism-related labour market, 2019 values were reached and often exceeded. However, the hoped-for 2021 levels extrapolated from 2019 data were not achieved. The other side of the labour market, i.e. unemployment, shows that the crisis has not left too much of a mark: after having been inflated out of all proportion, the unemployment lists have returned to virtually the same levels as in 2019.

This figure is even lower in some parts of the province. This is confirmed by the unemployment rate (3.5%) based on quarterly ISTAT/ASTAT data for the period April to June 2021, which is down from a year earlier when it was 4.0% and only slightly higher than two years earlier (3.3%).

The labour market recorded 4.3% more employment contracts for the period from May to October 2021 than one year earlier. This would have marked an all-time record – because the previous highest growth over the last 23 summers (i.e. 3.6%) was recorded in 2017 and 2018  – were it not for the fact that almost all the gains can be put down to the recovery after the first summer of the pandemic. The increase compared to 2019 is actually + 0.2%. This 2-year increase corresponds to an average annual growth of + 0.1%, which is the sum of the decline (- 3.3% on average over the two years) in the hotel and catering sector and average growth of + 0.7% in the other sectors. This indicates weak growth in other sectors, but still slightly better than during the global economic crisis when non-tourism sectors grew on average by + 0.5% per year between 2008 and 2013.

The economic sector whose 6-month average figures failed to return to 2019 values is therefore the hotel and restaurant sector, with an overall figure of - 6.7%.

Compared to 2019, growth is weak in agriculture (+ 0.8%), construction (+ 1.1%), manufacturing (+ 1.2%), trade (+ 1.4%), other private services (+ 1.1%), social assistance (+ 1.6%) and education (+ 1.5%). Financial and insurance activities (- 0.4%) and public administration (- 0.6%) also experienced a downswing. A significant + 5.0% rise was recorded for the healthcare workforce.

Overall, recovery levels were similar between men (+ 0.0%) and women (+ 0.3%). The main sector affected by the crisis, the tourism sector, has prevented figures returning to 2019 levels for workers and non-clerical staff in general (- 1.1%) and non-residents (- 1.4%), while the recovery for residents (+ 0.4%) has been encouraging, especially for clerical staff (+ 1.8%).

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The period considered (May to October 2021) was supposed to herald a return to normality, and in many areas this was the case. But not for everyone. Once again, the economy directly or indirectly linked to tourism and catering and the related labour market were most affected by the chaos that the pandemic left in its wake. Another significant new factor for hoteliers, restaurants and farmers was that they did not have the usual pool of foreign residents at their disposal. A comparison shows that, apart from the tourism-related labour market, 2019 values were reached and often exceeded. However, the hoped-for 2021 levels extrapolated from 2019 data were not achieved. The other side of the labour market, i.e. unemployment, shows that the crisis has not left too much of a mark: after having been inflated out of all proportion, the unemployment lists have returned to virtually the same levels as in 2019. This figure is even lower in some parts of the province. This is confirmed by the unemployment rate (3.5%) based on quarterly ISTAT/ASTAT data for the period April to June 2021, which is down from a year earlier when it was 4.0% and only slightly higher than two years earlier (3.3%).

The labour market recorded 4.3% more employment contracts for the period from May to October 2021 than one year earlier. This would have marked an all-time record – because the previous highest growth over the last 23 summers (i.e. 3.6%) was recorded in 2017 and 2018 – were it not for the fact that almost all the gains can be put down to the recovery after the first summer of the pandemic. The increase compared to 2019 is actually + 0.2%. This 2-year increase corresponds to an average annual growth of + 0.1%, which is the sum of the decline (- 3.3% on average over the two years) in the hotel and catering sector and average growth of + 0.7% in the other sectors. This indicates weak growth in other sectors, but still slightly better than during the global economic crisis when non-tourism sectors grew on average by + 0.5% per year between 2008 and 2013.

The economic sector whose 6-month average figures failed to return to 2019 values is therefore the hotel and restaurant sector, with a total of -6.7%.

Compared to 2019, growth is weak in agriculture (+ 0.8%), construction (+ 1.1%), manufacturing (+ 1.2%), trade (+ 1.4%), other private services (+ 1.1%), social assistance (+ 1.6%) and education (+ 1.5%). Financial and insurance activities (- 0.4%) and public administration (- 0.6%) also experienced a downswing. A significant + 5.0% rise was recorded for the healthcare workforce.

The average number of people registered on employment agency lists during the period May-October 2021 was 15 787, + 2 894 (+ 22.4%) more than in the same period in 2019, i.e. before Alto Adige was hit by the pandemic. This value is the result of two summer seasons that could not have been more different: a significant increase of + 54% (+ 7 000 people) from summer 2019 to the ‘pandemic’ summer of 2020 and a subsequent decrease of - 4 100 (- 20%) people registered for the current season.

The late start of the summer season in tourism is the main reason for the rise in unemployment: 90% of the + 3 000 unemployed people registered in summer 2021 are from the HORECA sector and related services. For various reasons, many of the ‘seasonal unemployed’, i.e. people who are registered as unemployed only during the periods between individual seasons, have not been able to return to work as usual. They number 4 300, representing an increase of + 50.2% (+ 1 438) compared to 2019. The number of older unemployed people (aged over 50) has also increased significantly: + 30.3%, or an average of 4 465 people. The same applies to the long-term unemployed, who doubled in number between the summer semesters of 2019 and 2021. A comparison with summer 2019 shows that the average monthly number of unemployed people did not begin to approach pre-pandemic levels until the end of the current season. As of May 2021, + 6.385 (+ 36.6%) more people were still registered as unemployed compared to the same month of 2019. This difference has fallen for October: + 8.6% (+ 1 235), with some parts of the province falling even below the pre-pandemic level.

Val Venosta, Val Pusteria (including Val Badia) and Lower Atesina are performing particularly well. The two employment districts of Silandro (+ 7.9%; + 53) and Brunico (+ 5.6%; + 131) showed only a slight increase in the number of unemployed people compared to summer 2019 while the Egna district (- 12%) achieved the same level. By October, i.e. the end of the current observation period, the unemployment numbers recorded for these districts were even lower than two years previously (Silandro: - 33; - 4.8%; Brunico: - 118; - 3.8%; Egna: - 45; - 10.5%). The situation is different for Merano and the surrounding municipalities, which bore the greatest brunt of the late start of the summer tourist season, with + 46.9% (+ 370) and + 62.2% (+ 544) unemployed respectively compared to 2019. Bolzano (+ 17.1%; + 528) and municipalities that are part of the same district (+ 19.9%; + 439), as well as the district of Bressanone, which includes Vipiteno (+ 21.5%; + 281), achieved average increase levels for the province: + 22.4% compared to the 2019 summer season.

The Autonomous Province of Trento has a resident population of just over 540 000.

The most recent figures available (December 2020) indicate 71.1% in work (males: 76.8%, females: 65.5%), an employment rate of 67.3% (males: 73.1%, females: 61.5%), while the unemployment rate was 5.3% (males: 4.7%, females: 5.9%). These data have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and are expected to change as vaccinations increase.

A breakdown of employment by activity sector in the province of Trento shows the predominance of the tertiary sector (71.3%) compared to agriculture (3.1%) and industry (25.6%).

The service (tertiary) sector is large and includes employees in trade, tourism/hotels, the public sector, banking/insurance, the self-employed and business services.

In the secondary sector, most employees are in manufacturing (industrial or crafts). Small and medium-sized enterprises dominate the production structure of the province of Trento. There are fairly few major production centres.

In summary, the distinguishing features of the local production structure are the leading role of the crafts sector, the prevalence of small-sized enterprises and the large proportion – higher than in the rest of the north-east and in Italy as a whole – of service enterprises, in particular in the hotel and catering sector. The province of Trento thus lacks those large companies by which territories identify themselves (as is the case in several parts of the north-west).

The labour market in Trento has a certain attraction for migrant workers (either sedentary or seasonal), while commuting is rather limited (mainly from and to the neighbouring provinces of Bolzano and Verona).

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Although agriculture makes up a small percentage of Trento’s employment, it boasts quality produce (apples, grapes) and displays good employment growth; this sector shows a marked split between seasonal harvesting work with a strong presence of foreign workers, and workers employed all year round, mainly highly specialised technicians (often young farmers holding a relevant diploma or degree). Activity in this sector was not disrupted by the pandemic at the beginning of the year.

The tourism sector (hotels, restaurants and catering) is a major contributor to the Trento economy. It is very seasonal (with high seasons in both summer and winter in the mountain areas and one long season from April to October on Lake Garda), and provides a significant share of employment, especially in the valleys. In the most tourism-oriented areas, workers from outside Trento Province are frequently hired, and often provided with accommodation. In the accommodation and catering sector the occupations in highest demand were: cooks, German and/or English-speaking restaurant and bar waiters, and hotel receptionists with knowledge of German, English and a third language.

The lockdown had a significant effect on both this sector and other services involving proximity between suppliers and consumers, including trade, personal services, recreational services, sports and membership organisations.

Currently (beginning of June 2021) expectations for the summer season are high and accommodation facilities are encountering difficulties in recruiting staff; this seems to be linked to workers leaving tourism for other sectors and to the possible difficulties experienced by workers arriving from abroad.

In the industrial/crafts sector, the occupations which have a certain appeal are technicians (surveyors, engineers), skilled blue-collar workers, and workers in export-related activities. ICT professionals are highly sought-after and difficult to find in the Trentino region.

In the mining and construction industry, most vacancies are for low-skilled work. These two sectors have been shrinking for some years now.

Overall, employment in services in the wider sense remained largely stable in public administration, business services and care services (e.g. carers).

The employment situation in Trentino, which is generally fairly good, has been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hit the more vulnerable workers, especially in tourism and public establishments such as bars and restaurants. The greatest difficulties are faced by low-skilled workers, young people who have dropped out of school and, to some extent, those with secondary school diplomas and university graduates in certain non-technical subjects. It should be noted that for some people (in particular for some young secondary school diploma holders and university graduates), the difficulty lies in finding employment matching their educational path, with some of these ending up in jobs not appropriate to their training. On the other hand, young people without a secondary school diploma and low-skilled workers often experience difficulties in finding employment, irrespective of qualifications or sector, and in some cases they might become long-term unemployed or return to their countries of origin. This trend has worsened due to the COVID-19 emergency.

Veneto is located in the industrial area of northern Italy and is one of Italy’s main regions, with almost 5 million inhabitants.

The economy in Veneto is characterised by small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular manufacturing, mechanical, textile and agri-food companies, as well as tourism enterprises, and includes geographical clusters of specific manufacturing operations (textiles, goldsmiths, eyewear, furniture, etc.).

In May 2021, the volume of new hires returned to the levels seen 2 years ago, reducing the gap to just 2% less (53 200 compared to 54 200 two years ago). The result is entirely attributable to fixed-term contracts, which, after several months of falling, have benefited from the resumption of tourism activities and trade, both wholesale and retail, helping to fill the demand for labour that had been absent in recent months.

In May 2021, there was a positive employment balance in Veneto of about 21 200 employees, which was a very positive result not only compared to May 2020, which had closed with an increase of 4 800, but also compared to 2019, where the monthly balance was recorded at + 17 300. The employment balance for the first 5 months of the year also improved, amounting to almost 39 000 jobs added, which, while still far from the + 61 000 recorded in 2019, was nowhere near the negative balance in 2020 (- 4 500).

Taking into account the whole of January-May 2021, the decline in labour demand remained at higher levels (- 28%). The effects were mainly felt in sectors that had remained subject to restrictions for longer, such as tourism and trade, but even manufacturing was not spared, a sign of the freeze that halted the Veneto labour market even in the early months of 2021. Agriculture and construction maintained substantially positive trends, which have intensified and spread to the entire economy since April. Job terminations also fell: in the first 5 months of the year, they were down by 25% compared to 2019 and by 12% compared to 2020.

Taking a longer-term view, the number of jobs is about 16 000 higher than at the beginning of the pandemic, again considering the three main types of employment contract (permanent, fixed-term and apprenticeship). However, this result, which is uneven across different sectors and geographical areas, also fails to take into account the widespread use of the supplementary wages fund and the ban on redundancies, measures which helped to limit job losses during the crisis. From a sectoral point of view, trends in construction (+ 4 200), agriculture (+ 5 800) and non-tourism services (+ 10 400) were positive, while trends in tourism (- 2 800) and manufacturing (- 1 500) were negative. In the later case, the positive trends in metalworking, pharmaceuticals and products for construction were not enough to offset the losses in the fashion and eyewear sectors.

On the economic front, the month of May also seemed to be a turning point: ISTAT revised its national GDP forecasts up to + 4.7% in 2021 and + 4.4% in 2022, and forecasts a sharp recovery in both exports and employment.

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The volume of hires returned to 2019 levels, reducing the gap to just - 2% (53 000 compared to 54 000 in 2019). This was due to re-openings, which in May paved the way for recovery in a large portion of the employment demand that had disappeared in previous months, especially in the fields of trade and tourism. Fixed-term contracts, the type of work hardest hit by the closures, is the main area experiencing rises, and women and young people are the main beneficiaries, as they make up the majority of those employed under these contracts. The effect of the re-openings is also clear from an analysis of the trend in on-call (or call-based) work, particularly widespread in the sectors that have up until now been hardest hit, but which in May registered a surge in activity (+ 67% compared to 2019). There has also been a slight recovery in traineeships.

The greatest difficulties in finding employment are experienced by young people with no work experience or with limited vocational qualifications, workers aged over 50 and workers in the sectors experiencing the greatest difficulties, which are, in general terms, cultural and artistic activities.

Young people with degrees in humanities are having difficulty finding work. One reason is that there are few vacancies in the public and financial sectors, in cultural, historical, artistic and social fields, as well as in the following specialisations:

• psychology and social sciences;
• philosophy, philology and specialisations in the conservation of cultural assets;
• law;
• nursing, biology and chemistry;
• healthcare support;
• non-specialised and/or unqualified staff.

As a rule, and especially in these sectors, Veneto is not so much affected by extreme unemployment as difficulties in finding stable employment contracts. Underemployment is rife, with workers carrying out duties that they are overqualified to perform, temporary work with atypical contracts (short-term, zero-hour or project contracts), or consultancy activities (which require VAT registration).

General considerations

The reports set out below are based on ISTAT labour force data and regional data from the Excelsior-Unioncamere information system. Regarding the former, ISTAT recently issued new regional estimates for the period 2018-2021, adjusting stock values to a new estimate of the resident population and to the new criterion which counts people who have been unemployed for more than three months as inactive.

Resident population, labour force and reduction of potential labour supply

The resident population as at 1 January 2022 was 1 197 295, i.e. more than 4 200 fewer (- 0.4%) than in 2021. The demographic regression trend has not therefore been reversed. Friuli-Venezia Giulia (FVG) is one of the regions with the highest proportion of elderly residents on the European continent. Looking at the last 10 years (2011-2021), the reduction in the resident population is 1.9%, with a large imbalance in the changes depending on the age group. As a result of the falling birth rate and ageing population, the youth and young adult population groups have undergone the biggest reductions, especially among people of working age (- 8.9% for under-14s, - 15.9% for those aged 25-34 and - 27.5% for those aged 35-44), while numbers in older groups are increasing (over-45: + 20.5%; over-55: + 9.9%; over-65: + 18.1, over-75: + 33.5%).

Net migration is not therefore contributing to the rejuvenation of the workforce, as was partly the case in the past. Restrictions on mobility between countries during the pandemic period probably also led to a further reduction in average migration flows between 2020 and 2021.

Foreign residents number approximately 110 000, or 9.2% of the total, roughly the same share as in the last 5 years. Because of its geographical location, the region is home to a share of foreigners that is higher than the national average. Employment rates are also good on the whole among foreign residents: around 63%, the highest among the regions.

When we compare population rates in the region between the north-east and north-west, the figures speak for themselves. If we look at the ageing index – representing the ageing of a population as a percentage of the number of people aged over 65 over the number of young people up to the age of 14 – the figure for FVG is 227.1 (north-east: 185.7; Italy: 182.6). The structural dependency ratio is the ratio between the population of non-working age (0-14 and 65 and over) and the population of working age (15-64 years), multiplied by 100, for FVG the indicator is 62 (meaning that for every 100 people of non-working age there are 62 people of working age), 57.9 for the north-east and 57.3 for Italy.

These trends, which have been apparent for years, have led to a number of realisations, beginning with the observation of a sharp downturn in the potential supply of work and number of inactive people of working age that cannot be remedied in the short term. The population of working age (aged 15-64) has fallen by 7% over the last 20 years and represents 61.7% of the total population (67% in 2002).

From an economic and labour market perspective, the most significant positive and negative consequences are as follows:

• increased demand for services for older people and their families;
• more retirements and resignations among older people;
• reduction in the volume of cohorts entering the labour market and thus a greater mismatch between labour demand and supply.

This is happening against the backdrop of unprecedentedly high demand for employment in recent years (given GDP growth of 6%), with a record employment rate for FVG of 67.3% (third highest in Italy). The number of hires during 2021 and up to the period of new uncertainty surrounding the war in Ukraine have remained above 2019 values recorded from May of that year, meaning that the opportunities for employment and professional mobility are very high. This is a very good time to come to work in FVG.

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If we consider production, the FVG Region has a strong manufacturing component, mainly producing semi-finished metal products destined for foreign markets. It also produces a good proportion of eminently exportable high-quality machinery and equipment products, including automated products (industrial robots). The latest ISTAT data tell us that one in four employees work in industry, which has led to a very significant business services sector. Because the firms are usually small, they outsource financial, accounting, strategic, IT, logistics and other services.

Looking at the 2021 Excelsior-Unioncamere data in this area, the most popular occupational roles are:

• skilled manufacturing workers: metalworkers, welders and steelworkers, automatic or semi-automatic machine operators, wood and textile operators;
• storage and logistics operators;
• industrial and engineering technicians, engineers;
• economic and business management professionals and specialists;
• market relations technicians, including the new frontiers of marketing and business communication;
• IT and digitisation technicians.

However, opportunities are available in virtually all areas as was explained in the previous section: a one-of-a-kind generational renewal is occurring in the FVG labour market, covering virtually all private and public sectors.

For example, the construction sector is seeking workers specialising in construction and finishing: in this case the demand for labour is driven by bonuses for the building trade and NRRP prospects.

The service sector, particularly trade and tourism, is seeking sales workers, as well as cooks and waiters, mainly for accommodation and food services. Since 2020, many employers in the tourism sector (seasonal by nature) have actually reported that they are finding it very difficult to get staff. Leaving aside the problems that have arisen in this sector, seasonal work should be encouraged (especially for younger people) as an opportunity to learn transversal skills that will be useful in the future for any profession.

Lastly, the demand for all types of teachers in education and training sectors at all levels is relatively high, especially in the public sector where several competitive recruitment processes are ongoing (not only in schools) and the social and healthcare sector, where medical and para-medical staff, nurses, diagnostic technicians and rehabilitation technicians are sought.

When we consider the specific profiles of people registered with employment agencies, in terms of their employability index based not only on vocational skills or aspirations but also on their level of awareness of the jobs actually available on the labour market, we find a disproportionate number of people looking for first jobs or low-skilled jobs in the service field (particularly sales and tourism staff) while the labour market is mainly seeking skilled workers in fields where such labour is lacking, particularly in industry.

In the main, there are therefore too many people looking for jobs in the traditional service sector, with relatively high demand for specialised workers, technicians and specialists.

This raises the question of why so many people are still looking for this type of work, albeit only on a seasonal basis, despite the fact that there are plenty of opportunities in tourism, given the reported lack of unqualified staff in this field.

Different assumptions can be made. In the service industry, a significant proportion of unemployed people who are available or actively seeking work undoubtedly need career guidance and pathways, including encouragement to return to work, and to acquire transversal skills as well as new vocational skills.

The labour market situation in Liguria in the third quarter of 2020 was influenced by Government measures to contain the health emergency caused by COVID-19.

Compared with the previous year, labour market data for 2020 show:

• a fall in the employment rate
• a fall in the unemployment rate
• a decrease in the workforce
• an increase in the inactive population

Liguria’s employment rate has dropped from 65.1% to 64.5%.

 In 2020, Liguria saw a reduction in the workforce compared to 2019 (- 3.1%, amounting to a drop of about 21 000). This was mainly concentrated into the first three quarters of the year. According to ISTAT data, employment in Liguria fell from 628 944 in the third quarter of 2019 to 617 575 in the third quarter of 2020 (- 1.8%). The decline was more marked in the north and in Italy as a whole (north-west: - 2.6%, - 184 734 workers; north-east: - 2.1%, - 111 513 workers; Italy: - 2.6%, - 621 709 workers).

At the same time, there was an increase in the inactive population (of 1.4%, equal to about 12 000 people), and this was also particularly marked in the first 9 months of the year. The result was a total decline in the working population of around 9 000.

As far as the workforce is concerned, there was a decrease in the number of employed people (of - 1.7%, or about 11 000 fewer people) and those seeking employment (of - 16.2%, or about 11 000 fewer people).

For the inactive population, there was an increase in all categories except for that of people not seeking work but available to work (-2 000 individuals, or - 7.7%) and those aged under 15 who are not in the labour force (- 3 000 individuals, or - 1.7%).

The number of people working on a self-employed basis in trade, hotels and restaurants rose by 11.7% (6 994 workers).

In 2020 in Liguria, the number of NEETs (young people Not in Employment, Education or Training) in the 15-24 age bracket rose by 20.3% compared to 2019 (an increase of 3 434 individuals), reaching 20 326. In the north-west, the increase in NEETs aged 15-24 was 20.7% (40 752 individuals). In Liguria, NEETs in the 15-29 age bracket increased by 13.8% (4 927 individuals), and totalled 40 656 people in 2020. In the north-west, the increase over the same period was 18.7% (65 569 individuals).

Liguria Region Active Labour Policy Service

Alfaliguria Labour Market Observatory

Unicamere – Excelsior

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The negative trend at sectoral level was mainly due to the services sector, where employment fell by 2.4%. The sector accounts for more than 78% of Ligurian employment. Industry also experienced a contraction in employment (of 0.4%) and the growth – recorded in agriculture alone (+ 14.2%) – was not enough to offset these losses.

Employment in agriculture increased by 22.5% (2 467 workers), while in industry the increase was 2.6%, i.e. 2 980 workers, mainly due to those employed in manufacturing (+ 3.8%, + 2 957 workers), while construction remained stable (+ 0.1%, + 24 workers); employment in services fell by 3.3% (a drop of 16 818 workers) despite an increase of 0.9% in trade, hotels and restaurants (+ 1 403 workers).

Compared to 2019, 2020 saw a decline in new hires in Liguria across all tourism-related activities, although the highest losses, in percentage terms, were in travel agencies and tourism assistance (- 56.7%, - 55 workers).

 Restaurants, bars and ice-cream parlours also suffered from a reduced season and lower numbers of tourists/customers, with a decline in workers newly taken on of more than 16% in 2020.

In the hotels sector, there were 14.1% fewer employees than in 2019, and this also applied to the letting of rooms and B&Bs (- 23.1%).

Compendium of Occupations www.laboratorioprofessioni.it

Unioncamere Excelsior system https://excelsior.unioncamere.it

The number of active jobseekers registering at the Job Centres increased by 20.8%; within this category, women account for 72.2%. The available workers are mainly in the tourism sector (hotels and catering in particular) which, due to the protracted health emergency, the reduction in travel and the closure of various activities, has seen a contraction in the number of employed people and/or in the length of employment. These are largely low-skilled but experienced seasonal workers.

A surplus of available workers was also recorded in education among teachers and specialists in the arts and human sciences.

Sources: Observatory on Liguria’s Employment Centres

Alfaliguria Labour Market

Compendium of Occupations www.laboratorioprofessioni.it

Unioncamere Excelsior system https://excelsior.unioncamere.it

Emilia-Romagna is home to 4.4 million people, of whom about 2.1 million are active in the labour market and represent 72.5% of the population aged from 15-64 years. This is the highest percentage among all the Italian regions, but it is still 2.1 percentage points below the 2019 level due to the COVID-19 pandemic over the last 2 years.

After the crisis of 2020, 2021 saw relatively encouraging trends in the labour market. Compared to 2019, the number of working people decreased by 2.3%, but job seekers also decreased by 4.0%, due to 7.9% growth in the inactive population in only one year.

The decrease in jobs is worse for women (- 3.8%). Looking into trends in various sectors compared to 2019, commerce (including hotels and restaurants) was worst affected, losing 9.4% of its jobs, followed by manufacturing, which lost 3.6% of its jobs. On the other hand, agriculture gained 3.6%, construction increased by 13.9% and other services slightly decreased (- 1.0%).

The overall unemployment rate in 2021 was 5.5%. Unemployed women represent 7.2% of the active female population, while the male unemployment rate is estimated to be 4.0%. Compared to the national average, these values are very low.

Within the region, the areas of Modena (4.4%) and Bologna (4.6%) show the lowest levels of unemployment, while the worst unemployment rates are in Rimini (7.4%) and Ferrara (7.3%), in part due to the difficulties of tourism during the pandemic emergency.

The economic system remains mainly characterised by small and medium sized enterprises. The main production chains in the region are: machinery, automobiles, agriculture and food-processing machinery, construction, fashion, health, culture and creativity. The individual sectors of the supply chains are linked together through supply relationships or interdependence along the value chain, and they are supported by a research and development system made up of a mix of specialist centres, including universities.

Tourism, attracted by the seaside, mountain sites and art cities, is another central sector in the regional economy, although it has suffered significantly since the first half of 2020.

In the regional job market, 21.1% of workers are self-employed, while employees represent 78.9%, mainly in industry (93.2%) and other services (78.7%).

Labour mobility is also high among unskilled professions and commerce and service activities, although the service activities sector has grown significantly during the last few years, together with education and training specialised professions, mathematical sciences, information technology and engineering.

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According to the Excelsior analysis for the May-July 2022 period, regional companies plan to hire 123 750 professionals, of whom 80% will have fixed-term contracts and 20% permanent ones.

These new positions are mostly in the services sector (77%) with enterprises employing fewer than 50 people (63%).

Specifically, the top categories in the ranking by sector are tourism (30%), followed by business services (22%), manufacturing (19%), personal services (15%), commerce (10%) and construction (4%).

These professionals are sought mainly in commercial and services areas, (32%) or production and in the management of production plants (24%). There was little interest in managers, specialists and technicians (18%) or jobs without specific qualifications (18%). One in three might relate to people younger than 30.

Many companies indicate that they will have difficulties identifying the professionals they need among jobseekers (40% of cases), especially in the technical field.

The areas with the lowest unemployment rate in 2021 were in the central Emilia area, including Modena (4.4%) and Bologna (4.6%).

These are areas of the region where the share of people seeking work is much lower than in eastern areas, especially Rimini (7.4%).

However, the average regional unemployment rate (5.5%) remains significantly lower than the Italian average (9.5%).

Forecasts for 2022 suggest that the unemployment rate will fall in all areas of the region due to the expected end of the pandemic emergency and the starting of the Next Generation EU programme for public investment. Uncertainty remains, due to the situation in Ukraine.

Comment

In 2021, signs of an economic trend reversal appeared after a very difficult year in 2020 characterised by the pandemic.

Now all the regions can be considered fruitful jobseeking territory for young foreigners, particularly those with technical skills.

Tuscany is seeing a gradual return to normality after the years marked by the SARS Covid-2 pandemic. The observed trends show that the emergence from the crisis has taken place more quickly and intensively than in previous downturns, mainly due to the expansion in national and regional fiscal policies. Putting the equivalent of 94 000 jobs on hold during the pandemic, while banning dismissals, contributed to the overall resilience of employment and streamlined the return to work. Tuscany has now regained its level of employment prior to COVID-19 (+ 2 000 employees year on year compared with 2019), although the job opportunities created are mainly temporary.

Compared to the national scenario, Tuscany shows higher employment rates and lower unemployment rates for almost all socio-demographic population strata. However, some problems can be identified in the medium-long term outlook and the characteristics of the employed population.

For more than a decade, employment growth – leaving aside the period of the pandemic – has not kept pace with output. The result is a sluggish labour market in terms of the volume and profitability of the labour force used. Data from the National Social Insurance Institute (INPS) shows that prior to the advent of COVID-19, even in the years of recovery, 90% of the growth in wages could be attributed to higher employment and 10% to an increase in unitary wages. However, this increase in employment was accompanied by a substantial reduction in working time, meaning that around 6% of the employed population was underemployed. The prevailing theme of the Tuscan labour market is therefore that jobs have been more resilient than in Italy as a whole but this has come at the price of a drop in labour intensity and profitability.

Tuscany is also faced with youth and gender problems, as well as the goal of increasing the skill content of the work requested.

Six out of every 100 jobseekers under 30 years of age do not find employment: in addition, 4% of young people become discouraged, i.e. they stop looking for a job because they do not believe that they will find one. Apart from these two components, the weakest share of this population is made up of people who are neither looking for work nor willing to do so. They are therefore disengaged, or simply inactive, and account for around 6% of young people. Overall, 16% of young people belong to the NEET category, i.e. boys and girls who are not in education, employment or training. Two variables affect the proportion of NEETs: early drop-outs from education and the relative number of graduates. The first variable fuels the number of NEETs, while the latter contains it (the incidence of NEETs among graduates is very low). Tuscany’s early drop-out rate is in line with European targets, but its graduate rate is lower than the European average: the proportion of 25-34-year-olds in Tuscany with a tertiary degree is 28% as opposed to 40% in the EU.

On the gender issue, the proportion of women in work has increased significantly over the years, but the employment rate of women is still 14 percentage points lower than that of men. This difference is particularly high (- 22 percentage points) in the 30-39 age group, i.e. the age when women decide to have children, when the figure is 68% for women compared with 89% for men. Women also face the problem of being concentrated in certain jobs, particularly care and personal services, while they are under-represented in professions with higher remuneration and career prospects (apart from the government sector).

The last, more general consideration, concerns the type of work required by the Tuscan economic system. As elsewhere in Italy, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises and tourism, professions with qualifications in the service industry (cooks, waiters, sales workers) and manufacturing (workers and technicians in production) prevail. Sixty-six per cent of the volume of work is carried out by the middle-ranking professions (employees, skilled service occupations, skilled workers, and

plant operators), 24% by unskilled professions and 10% by high-ranking professions (managers, intellectual and technical professions). Tuscany is also affected by trends leading to polarisation of the labour market. These reduce the number of middle-ranking professions, especially the more routine ones, and increase the number of jobs at either end of the scale.

In the Tuscan production system (and in many respects the Italian system as a whole), the challenge is to foster digital innovation and upskilling, while also enhancing the manual skills, dexterity, creativity and originality that typify many professions relying on Italian master craftsmanship. Our task is to retain our low and high-tech professions and skills, injecting a dose of innovation into the existing elements of originality, creativity, know-how, insight and intuition encoded in our DNA.

The end of the pandemic and the resurgence that we are witnessing could lead workers to switch sectors. This trend could be supported by an acceleration in processes of technological change and environmental sustainability. These processes are also enshrined in the NRRP guidelines, which advocate new skills and occupational roles and the required training.

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In the labour market, the number of jobs lost during the pandemic began to recover significantly from mid-May 2021, as restrictions introduced to limit the spread of the pandemic came to an end. The third and fourth quarters marked the return of employment to pre-COVID levels: nearly + 16 000 hires in the last 6 months of the year compared to the same period in 2019 and + 10 000 employees. The divergent trend observed between the two poorly-performing 6-month periods in the former and encouraging figures in the latter resulted in an equally divergent final year-on-year balance between new recruits (- 53 000) and employees (+ 1 961) compared with 2019. The share of fixed-term contracts with one or more extensions increased significantly compared to 2019, both in the first half of the year (from 21% to 30%) and in the second half (from 17% to 20%). This apparent contradiction is explained by a lengthening in the actual duration of fixed-term contracts, particularly in the first half of the year (32 days more than the average duration for the same period in 2019).

Looking at the changes in the number of employees in 2021 by macro-sector compared with 2019, it can be seen that the positive result was driven by the construction industry, where employment growth did not stop even in 2020 (+ 7 000) and the public sector, particularly education (+ 8 000 employees) and healthcare (+ 3 000).

Private services are significantly lagging behind the level observed in 2019. This is particularly true of tourism-related services, which lost 13 000 people, and in the retail sector, where the number of people employed fell by just under 2 500. One of the few positive exceptions is IT services, which grew by 7 percentage points. In 2021, manufacturing, as a whole, made up for the loss of jobs recorded in 2020, although trends differed across groups of sectors. On the one hand, the number of employees in sectors relying on Italian master craftsmanship are still lower than before COVID-19 (- 3.4%; - 5 000 employees); while the numbers employed in mechanical, chemical and pharmaceutical sectors have overtaken pre-pandemic levels by around 5 000 units (+ 4.3%).

In Tuscany, as in the rest of Italy, the protracted COVID-19 emergency led to a far-reaching recession, with significant consequences for the labour market and employment income, overlapping with and exacerbating existing contradictions and widening social and territorial disparities. We face many diverse challenges, the chief ones being: to contain and buffer situations of disadvantage present in this region, particularly regarding young people and the complications surrounding their inclusion in the labour market; to reduce gender inequalities by supporting female employment in terms of quantity (more women in employment) and quality (more stable occupations and careers that are less discontinuous and fragmented, greater presence in the top professions and not only in sectors and professions that are predominantly female, where the jobs offer fewer career prospects and are more badly paid); to reduce the mismatch between labour demand and supply by supporting the qualification and retraining of workers, with a view to leveraging strategic sectors of the regional economy, local aspirations and local professional needs while supporting the economic and production system with a view to digital innovation, green issues and the circular economy; to overcome local disparities that familiar even in Tuscany, which contains significant problem areas afflicted by serious levels of adult unemployment – and to support territorial cohesion, in order to foster more balanced patterns of growth between the different areas of Tuscany. The recession of the last two years has also affected local systems unevenly. Sectors and workers involved in trade, international tourism, leisure activities and personal care services have been hard hit and are still struggling to achieve a gradual return to normal. Apart from the economic situation, the weakness of the business cycle in general (a national problem) has also been weakening the labour market in Tuscany over the years. Employment has grown over time, but this mostly applies to temporary, short-time jobs in low-skilled services. The volume of labour grew significantly less than output, leading to an overall situation marked by an underutilised labour force with the fastest-growing sectors including jobs with low wage growth. The system is also still affected by a situation where the supply of jobs is higher than reflected by the official statistics. This situation shows a mismatch between supply and demand for skills and job profiles. Tuscany also displays features typical of a low-growth system, in which the vital proportion of the economy (export companies, skilled jobs, advanced sectors) achieving performance levels similar to those of advanced markets, such as Germany, is too small to offset the profusion of dead wood that surrounds it, although the situation in Tuscany is not as bad as in the rest of Italy. Active employment and training policies can be used to mitigate shortcomings and problems observed in the regions and the population, and to support social, as well as individual, recovery processes.

The ‘Relazione Economico Sociale’ (Economic and Social Report) published in May 2022 by AUR Umbria (the Umbria Research Agency) shows that the recovery enjoyed in Italy and Umbria in 2021 began to be threatened at the end of the year, when signs appeared of a slowdown in international trade and production. This was due to ongoing difficulties in the supply of raw materials and, lastly, the sharp rise in energy prices which triggered the inflationary spiral. The outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022 also sparked turbulence in the economy.

The economic situation has changed radically and the outlook is very uncertain: the Russian aggression against Ukraine has placed supply channels in jeopardy and thus also European production. Italy is particularly affected as it is highly dependent on raw materials and gas from the countries involved in the conflict. A series of shocks have piled up during the long aftermath of a pandemic that is relatively controlled but not yet over: higher energy prices, shortage of raw materials, difficulties in supply, economic sanctions and inflation.

2021 was a year of employment growth for Umbria. Levels stabilised in the second half of the year, reaching 356 600 by the end of the year. On average, there were 6 000 more people in employment than in the previous year, with a higher growth rate than in Italy as a whole. The recovery in the labour market was therefore driven by the economic upturn of the past year. Most workers were recruited on a temporary basis due to the understandable caution of operators, recently exacerbated by concerns arising from the economic consequences of the ongoing war. There is, however, a risk that the prevalence of fixed-term contracts may become a structural factor that penalises work in several respects, first and foremost financially (the hourly rate for temporary jobs is 29.7% lower than for permanent jobs (ISTAT)). In parallel, the number of jobseekers continued to fall in Umbria as early as the fourth quarter of 2020. By the end of the year, 22 000 people were unemployed, almost 6 400 fewer than in the previous year: a decrease of more than a fifth, in contrast to the 2.9% increase in Italy as a whole, 0.9% in the north and 5.6% in the centre.

A snapshot of Umbria in 2021 compared to the pre-pandemic situation (2019) shows: 4 000 fewer people in employment, 8 000 fewer unemployed, more than 4 000 potential additions to the labour force, despite a concomitant population loss of more than 7 000 people of working age as a result of changes, due mainly to the falling birth rate.

As at 31 December 2021, Umbria’s resident population was 859 572 (414 888 males and 444 684 females).

Rising employment and the shrinking working-age population led the employment rate to jump to 65.3% in the last quarter of 2021 (slightly below the peak recorded in the fourth quarter of the year prior to the pandemic).

According to figures for the last quarter of 2021, the unemployment rate for 15-74-year-olds fell to 5.8% in Umbria (just above 5.7% in the north, 9% in Italy and 8.4% in the centre), and the rate of inactivity fell to 30.5% (in line with that of the centre, greater than the level of 28.2% recorded in the north and under the level of 34.5% recorded for all of Italy).

The rise in employment in 2021 affected men more than women (+ 2.0% and + 1.3% respectively), not least because the employment crisis had been in a male-dominated region. In any case, in 2021, as in 2019, 55.2% of jobs in Umbria continue to be occupied by men (57.8% in Italy, 55.9% in the centre and north).

The most worrying factor, though the problem is easing, concerns the relatively higher proportion of graduates among the unemployed, with the share rising from 13% in 2018 to 21% in 2021: as a result, Umbria occupies first place on the league table of highly educated groups in search of employment.
 

Source: ‘Social Economic Report’ (May 2022) - AUR (Umbria Research Agency)

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Despite all the problems caused by higher prices and difficulties in the supply of raw materials and semi-finished products, a higher degree of specialisation in construction could mean that this sector acts as a kind of buffer. The strong recovery we are seeing in the construction sector is driven by government incentives, which will be accelerated still further by measures linked to the implementation of the NRRP.

Source: ‘Relazione Economico Sociale’ (Economic and Social Report) (May 2022) - AUR (Umbria Research Agency)

Although the current crisis cuts across different sectors, it is mainly affecting industry rather than services. This region is in a somewhat worse position than Italy as a whole, as industry in the strict sense accounts for 20.8% of regional added value (19.7% in Italy).

Umbrian manufacturing is highly dependent on links to external economies, especially those of other Italian regions: only half of the available manufacturing resources, i.e. those destined for production sectors or meeting final demand, is made up of output produced within the region, as the other half is imported from outside (two thirds from other regions and one third from the rest of the world). Another complication is that its great focus on intermediate segments of the production chain makes the Umbrian manufacturing microcosm particularly vulnerable. Because it is an integral part of a system of highly interconnected global production and trade relations, forced disruption of individual links in the supply chain could jeopardise the running of the whole system. The metal sector is the most energy-intensive sector (current price increases mean that the share of energy costs out of total production costs is expected to more than double) and the one beset by the most problems, as increases in steel purchase prices are compounded by supply difficulties. The metal industry accounts for a larger percentage of the Umbrian market than the national average (the added value it generates is 3.2% as opposed to 2.6% in Italy). Like the fashion industry, it depends to an unusually high degree on external supplies: 78% of the intermediate resources used for its production are bought in from outside the region (51% from other regions of Italy and 27% from abroad).

Source: ‘Relazione Economico Sociale’ (Economic and Social Report) (May 2022) - AUR (Umbria Research Agency)

The sustained economic recovery achieved in 2021, when Italy was one of the most vigorously growing countries in Europe, has not had the effect of restoring the labour market to pre-pandemic balances. The scenario in Marche is further complicated by the decline in the resident population aged 15 and over, which fell from 634 200 to 631 600 between 2020 and 2021.
 The crisis and unfavourable demographic trends have affected labour supply. After a sharp contraction in 2020, this remained stable among 15-64-year-olds in 2021 and increased by 0.3% among the over-15s. The area of inactivity increased significantly compared to 2019 (+ 2.8% for the over-15s). A rebound in the economy during 2021 led to an increase in employment (+ 0.8% as in Italy) and a parallel decline in unemployment (- 5.1%). However, having some 4 700 more people in employment does not compensate for the year of lockdown, when more than 20 000 jobs were lost.

A shake-up in the various population segments has affected labour market indicators. The activity rate increased from 68.7% to 69.2% between 2020 and 2021; the employment rate increased by 0.7 percentage points to 64.1%; the unemployment rate fell to 7.1% while it stood at 7.5% on average over the previous 12 months. The inactivity rate decreased slightly from 31.3% to 30.8%, but stood at 28.8% in 2019. Nevertheless, none of the indicators taken into account, with the exception of the unemployment rate, managed to return to 2019 figures. This meant that Marche lost two percentage points in terms of participation in the labour market and 0.8 percentage points in terms of employment.

At regional level, the increase in the stock of people in employment observed in 2021 is entirely due to men (+ 1.5%), while the pool of employed women remains largely static (- 0.1%).

In the Marche region, the expansion of the employment base is more pronounced, in percentage terms, for the self-employed (entrepreneurs, freelancers, self-employed workers, people helping in a family business, cooperative members who are not employees, collaborators and occasional workers); this group increased by 1.4%, or an extra 2 000 people, while the increase was 0.6% for employees. The recovery in employment among the self-employed is a phenomenon unique to Marche, with little evidence of the same thing happening in the rest of the country, which shows an overall decline of - 2.1% in the sector. In sectoral terms, recent regional employment growth covers all major sectors of the economy with the exception of industry in the strict sense, which has contracted by 8.3%. Employment increases by 5.3% in primary industry, 4.8% in construction and 4.7% in services (+ 0.7% trade and tourism, + 6.4% other services).

During the first nine months of 2021, recruitment increased for almost all job profiles except for technical professions in organisational, administrative and financial fields, which fell by 24.9% compared to the corresponding period in 2020 and by 51.5% compared to their pre-pandemic levels. The largest increases were in the intellectual, scientific and highly specialised professions (+ 39.7%) and plant operators, stationary and mobile machinery workers and vehicle drivers, which altogether recorded an increase of 28.2%. These were followed in terms of demand intensity by clerical professions (+ 22.3%) and craftsmen, skilled workers and farmers (+ 21.3%). The percentage composition of the overall flow of recruitments for each variable considered is dominated by unskilled professions, which accounted for 28.9% of company hires. A very similar proportion was recorded for skilled occupations in business and services, which accounted for 27.8% of recruitments. Intellectual, scientific and highly specialised professions also accounted for a significant proportion (11.3%), while senior management job recruitments were recorded in only 0.2% of cases.

The growing buoyancy of demand for labour by businesses and government departments during 2021 affected all major educational qualifications, albeit at varying rates and intensities. Compared to the first nine months of 2020, recruitment levels of individuals with a university degree or higher qualification (tertiary education, ISTAT classification for 2003) increased by 17.3%, from 26 261 to 30 793 (32 822 in 2019). The most important item within this grouping is a degree (under the old or new university system) gained by taking a course lasting from 2 to 6 years, with recruitment rates rising by 21.3%. Significant rises were also logged for hires of people with an upper secondary education, which allows access to university, and a middle-school diploma: in both cases, the increase was 19.6% compared to the first 9 months of 2020.

The number of hires of individuals with no educational qualifications amounted to 38 730. This marked an increase of 13.6% over the same portion of the previous year and restored the figures to pre-pandemic levels (38 686).

The largest employers are as follows:

• Ariston T. (trade in heating, plumbing and electromechanical apparatus)
• Team System (management software)
• Fileni (poultry farming and sale)
• Lardini (clothing production)
• Caterpillar (supplier of tractors and agricultural machinery)
• New Holland (production of agricultural machinery)
• Farmacentro (logistics services, sorting, customer care for pharmacies)
• Angelini (pharmaceuticals company)
• Saccaria caffè (production and marketing of coffee)
• Togni SPA (soft drinks and mineral waters)
• Gruppo Loccioni (measurement, control and test equipment)
• Moncaro (production and marketing of wines)
• Meccanica Generale (plastics)
• FinCantieri (shipbuilding)
• Isa Group (boat building)
• CRN Yacht (yacht building)
• C.B.F. Balducci SPA (ready-to-wear clothing and other workwear)
• Macoiler International SRL (manufacture of special-purpose machinery and equipment)
• Santoni SPA (manufacture of footwear)
• Nuova Simonelli (production and distribution of coffee machines)
• Delsa (clothing, wedding dresses)
• Halley Informatica (IT and consultancy)
• Eurosuole (footwear manufacturing)
• ELP Cleaning (cleaning)
• Clementoni (toys)
• Lube Cucine (kitchen furniture)
• iGuzzuni (lighting)
• TOD'S (footwear and leather goods)
• Bag/Nero Giardini (footwear sector)
• HSIGN (furniture)
• Teamsystem (IT systems for company accounting)
• Marche Multiservizi (public utility services)
• MCM (metalworking)
• Arcansas (metalworking)
• ISA Infissi (manufacture of doors and windows)
• Profilglass (aluminium extrusions)
• Oltremare SPA (machinery for the plastics industry)
• IMAB (furniture)
• Paiardini (metalworking)
• STYLGROUP of Pesaro (packing and packaging)
• SAIPEM, an ENI Group company (engineering sector)
• Benelli armi (metalworking sector)
• EDEN Viaggi (tourism sector)
• Centraltubi (chemicals/rubber sector)
• Marinelli cucine (woodworking)
• Scavolini (timber sector)
• Renco SpA (engineering/construction/tourism)
• Biesse Group (metalworking sector)
• Rivacold (metalworking sector)
• IFI (furnishings)
• Xanitalia (chemicals - cosmetics)
• HP Composites Srl (metalworking industry)
• Industrie Tessili Picene S.R.L. (textile industry)
• Unionalpha Spa (metalworking industry)

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According to Movimprese data, in the Marche region, the breakdown of businesses by economic sector shows that the primary sector plays a bigger part there than in Italy as a whole (17.2% versus 14.1%), as does industry (about 13.0% versus 9.5%). Compared to the national average, though, the tertiary sector is less important in this region (56.3% in Marche versus 61.8% in Italy overall).

Marche retains its position as a manufacturing region, the sixth largest in Italy in terms of craft businesses as a proportion of the total, as they account for 29.3% of the region’s economy, against a national average of some 25%.

Based on forecasts by Unioncamere -ANPAL, Excelsior Information System for the quarter May to July 2022, 46 290 recruitments are expected in Marche in the following sectors:

According to regulatory reporting data, the most popular professions in 2021 were:

Compared to 2020, the number of companies active in Marche decreased by 1.6% in the primary sector, by 0.9% in industry, by 0.4% in construction and by 0.6% in the service sector. Among industrial activities, the sectors that struggled the most, in terms of erosion of their business base, were:

According to estimates by Prometeia (April 2022) in 2022, the overall value added in Marche will increase by 1.5% but is estimated to fall by 3.3% in agriculture and by 1.5% in industry. However, it is set to increase in construction (+ 8.4%) and services (+ 2.2%).

Sources:

Regional Labour Market Observatory for the Marche Region – 2021 Report

ISTAT: Rcfl

Prometeia

Unioncamere-ANPAL, Excelsior information system.

Marche Economic Trends Observatory

Job Agency Work Information System

Lazio covers an area of  17 242 km². It is home to 5 710 811 inhabitants (as of 28 February 2022) and its population density is 331.22 inhabitants/km².

The current socio-economic scenario is typified by at least three major transitions that are already working in synergy with one another. These will have a profound impact on society in several respects, including a specific impact on the employment structure in the near future:

digital transition, which will affect the ‘extensive margin’ by destroying certain jobs and creating new ones and the ‘intensive margin’ by changing the skills needed in the occupations.

environmental transition, which is a growth strategy based on inclusion and innovation with the setting of ambitious green targets, thus encouraging the development of employment opportunities for all activities linked to renewable technologies.

demographic transition based on demographic processes, first and foremost the ageing population, which is now a distinguishing factor of advanced (and other) economies. This has the twofold effect of changing the age composition of the (increasingly multi-generational) workforce and changing consumption and spending patterns, with the ‘silver economy’ becoming increasingly important.

These transitions will lead to a significant shift in skills and competences required in the labour market. Transversal skills (cognitive skills, social skills, etc.) will become more and more important and will complement technical skills; at the same time, specific skills related to the above transitions will become increasingly ubiquitous and central. In a large part of the occupations of the future, the focus will be on digital and/or green skills and demographic issues will become more important.

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A total of between 4.1 and 4.5 million workers are expected to be in need of employment.

Of the total employment requirement 1.3-1.7 million will be determined by the economic growth component (expansion demand): the employment requirement due to replacement of personnel leaving due to natural turnover (replacement demand) will exceed 2.8 million.

It is estimated that managers, specialists and technicians will account for almost 40% of total needs. Green skills will be increasingly pervasive: it is estimated that between 2022 and 2026, companies and the public sector will require 2.4-2.6 million employees to possess energy-saving and environmental sustainability skills, and these skills will be very important in 60% of cases;

Green skills will be increasingly pervasive: it is estimated that between 2022 and 2026, companies and the public sector will require 2.4-2.6 million employees to possess energy-saving and environmental sustainability skills, and these skills will be very important in 60% of cases;

A comparison between supply and demand for recent graduates shows potential supply shortages in the medical and healthcare sector, in the various STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields and in the economic area for the 5-period;

The most difficult jobs to fill:

most of these can be categorised as skilled workers in industry and services. The mismatch in this area exceeds 50% and can even be as high as two thirds of requirements

unfulfilled high demand for roles connected with process automation, digital and business support services (especially in manufacturing)

75% of jobs are difficult to fill for some technical professions (electrical engineers and technicians) and 60% in the case of analysts and software designers

2/3 of vacancies will be unfilled because there are no candidates. This mainly applies to technical roles, while companies consider that specialised workers do not have enough training.

• it is therefore important to invest in the Higher Technical Institutes (ITS), now also financed by the NRRP.

These jobs are becoming more difficult to fill, given the quotas (existing employees/expected new hires).

Considering absolute numbers, the most difficult jobs to fill concern people with manual skills (waiting staff, cooks, shop assistants, lorry and heavy vehicle drivers, office cleaners and masonry workers)

‘Previsioni dei fabbisogni occupazionali e professionali in Italia a medio termine (2021-2025)’ (Forecast employment and professional needs in Italy in the medium term (2021-2025)

In January 2022, the number of people in employment compared with the previous month remained broadly stable, the numbers of unemployed workers fell and the number of inactive workers increased.

This stable employment scenario is determined by growth in the number of employees among men, permanent employees, under-25s and over-50s and a decline among women, temporary employees and intermediate age groups. The employment rate remains stable at 59.2%.

The number of jobseekers fell among men and for all age groups, with the sole exception of 35-49-year-olds. The unemployment rate fell to 8.8% overall and to 25.3% among young people.

An increase in the number of inactive people aged 15-64 (+ 0.6%, or + 74 000) was driven by the increase observed among women and under-50s. The employment rate was 35.0% (+ 0.2 points).

Comparing the November 2021-January 2022 quarter with the previous quarter (August-October 2021), the employment level was 0.5% higher, corresponding to 120 000 more people in employment.

The employment growth recorded in the quarterly comparison was associated with a decrease in the number of jobseekers (- 1.8%, or - 41 000) and the number of inactive people (- 1.4%, or - 188 000).

The number of people employed in January 2022 was 3.3% higher than in January 2021 (+ 729 000). This increase was observed for men and women, for all age groups and occupational positions. The number in work was up 2.4 percentage points.

Compared with January 2021, the number of jobseekers fell (- 12.9%, or - 326 000) and the number of inactive people aged 15-64 have both fallen (- 5.0%, or - 684 000).

www.istat.it

The business system in Abruzzo has been negatively affected by the tough measures to contain the pandemic. These involved limiting the mobility of people and suspending the activities of most companies in the first spring lockdown and, to a more measured extent, in the second autumn period. Compared to 2019, new business start-ups decreased by 17.2% and de-registrations by 16.4%, reflecting serious uncertainty among economic operators over the way the pandemic would develop and whether their businesses would survive. In the first quarter of 2021, there was a further decline in start-ups owing to lower confidence and widespread discouragement, but also a decline in de-registrations demonstrating tenacity in these uncertain, difficult times. Agriculture, manufacturing, trade and transport continue to decline, while some non-commercial services, particularly tourism services, continue to grow. As in previous years, the business fabric has continued to be strengthened through a contraction in the number of businesses with simpler legal status and a strengthening of those that are more structured and equipped to compete on international markets.

Regional external trade in 2020 showed smaller negative annual changes than at national level. Foreign sales stood at EUR 8.2 billion (- 6.2%, Italy: - 12.8%), purchases out of EUR 3.9 billion (- 7.4%; Italy: - 9.7%). Between 2019 and 2020, double-digit declines were recorded for exports to the 27-member European Union post-Brexit (63% of the total) and to non-EU countries (12%). Similar decreases were recorded in foreign sales to Africa, Central South America and the Middle East (8% of the total). Exports to North America (12%) and Central and Eastern Asia (4% of the total) continued to progress. Although the metal and electronic sector (67% of regional exports) decreased by 10% compared to 2019, it has shown significant growth over the last two decades, due to the proportion of regional foreign sales accounted for by transport vehicles, which, despite an annual contraction of 12%, rose from 25% to almost 50% (Italy: 10%). Chemical and pharmaceutical (17% of the total for Abruzzo; Italy: 22%), a year-on-year increase of 17% (Italy: - 7.7%) due to a sharp surge in foreign sales of pharmaceutical, chemical and medicinal products (+ 108%; Italy: + 3.8%) which represent more than 7% of the total in Abruzzo (Italy: 8%). agri-food is also growing (8%; Italy: 11%). However, in line with the consolidated national trend, wood, paper and fashion, in particular, are losing ground. Altogether they accounted for 4% of exports from Abruzzo in 2020 (Italy: 14%).

The stock of registered activities operating in the region on 31 December 2021 is made up of 149 630 enterprises, 1 482 more than at the end of the previous year. With a growth rate of 1.0% (Italy: 1.42%), Abruzzo occupies twelfth place in the ranking of Italian regions with Lazio at the top (+ 2.16%) and Molise at the bottom (+ 0.42%). All the regions show positive changes. Considering only active companies, these numbered 127 985 at 31 December 2021, 1 198 more than in the previous year (the net change in assets between 2019 and 2020 was up + 244). In 2021, there was a renewed sign of vitality in new business start-ups. The number of new businesses registered increased by 3.8% compared with the previous year, ‘much lower than the national average of + 13.8%, but still positive after the sharp fall recorded in 2020 (- 15.6%, i.e. slightly lower than the figure of - 17.2% recorded for Italy as a whole), a year that was greatly affected by the economic effects of the spread of COVID-19’, in the words of the Study Centre, which however stressed that ‘the undeniable renewed entrepreneurial drive has not led to a full recovery of pre-pandemic levels: in 2021, Abruzzo recorded about 1 000 fewer start-ups than in 2019 and 1 150 fewer than the 2015-2019 average’. In contrast to national figures, the trend in registered craft enterprises remained negative: at the end of 2021 they stood at 28 952 units, or 19.3% of the regional total, with a year-on-year decrease of 200 units (growth rate: - 0.69%; Italy: + 0.79%). Looking at active craft firms alone, all areas have seen a continuing contraction. In Abruzzo, this amounted to a loss of around 660 units, distributed fairly equally between 2021 and 2020.

The largest number of local units (41 329) operate in the ‘G - Wholesale and retail trade’ sector,

followed by sector ‘A - Agriculture, forestry and fisheries’ (26 953), sector ‘F - Construction’ (18 731) occupies third place, followed by ‘C - Manufacturing’ (14 676) and ‘I - Accommodation and food service activities’ (13 638). For the number of employees in local units, the sector offering most jobs is ‘C - manufacturing’ (90 714), which also has the largest number of employees (82 257), followed by ‘G - wholesale trade’, which employs 72 112 workers, of whom 42 966 have employee status. The pandemic has had an impact on most sectors but its effects have been greatest in sector ‘I - Accommodation and food service activities’ where the number of employees has fallen by 2 576, followed by sector ‘A - Agriculture, forestry and fisheries’ (- 2.186), ‘G - Wholesale and retail trade’ (- 909) and ‘R - Arts, sport, entertainment and recreation’ (- 741). Sole traders, accounting for more than 50% of the total, are the most common legal form among local companies, although the largest numbers are employed by share capital companies. In general, almost all sectors have recorded increases, with some exceptions, including ‘rental, travel agencies and business support services’ (- 496), ‘manufacturing’ (- 313) and ‘electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply’ (- 111). Sole traders, accounting for more than 50% of the total, are the most common legal form among local companies, although the largest numbers are employed by share capital companies.

Svimez estimates for Abruzzo in 2020 show that economic activity was affected by the pandemic but the decreases in GDP and in value added (- 8.6% and - 8.3% respectively) were less severe than the national average. These were accompanied by declines in consumption, household disposable income and investment. All production sectors recorded decreases in the value added produced. These were more severe than the Italian average for agriculture in the region, and not so bad for construction and services. A substantial recovery is expected for 2021, in line with forecasts for all Italy.

The labour market fluctuated in 2020 due to the Government’s adoption, to varying degrees, of restrictive measures and income support. The regional labour force (539 000 units) fell by 4.0%, a sharper drop than the national average of - 2.8%, as a result of the loss of 9 300 jobs (- 1.9% in line with the national level) and unemployment figures of 13 000 (- 20.6%, almost twice the Italian average). The labour market performance figures featured a huge increase in inactivity levels in 2020 (+ 5.6%; + 4.3% for Italy) made up of people who are not in employment or seeking employment because of objective and subjective difficulties.

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Regional employment fell across all sectors. The employment rate among 15-64-year-olds was 57.5% (- 0.7 percentage points compared to 2019; Italy: 2020: 58.1%). For the reasons set out above, the number of unemployed people (15 years and over) in the region decreased by 20.6%, which is twice as high as the national average. The unemployment rate in Abruzzo fell to 9.3% (- 2 percentage points compared to 2019), in line with the average rate of unemployment in Italy, which is down by - 1 percentage point on an annual basis.

Regional employment fell across all sectors. The employment rate among 15-64-year-olds was 57.5% (- 0.7 percentage points compared to 2019; Italy: 2020: 58.1%). For the reasons set out above, the number of unemployed people (15 years and over) in the region decreased by 20.6%, which is twice as high as the national average. The unemployment rate in Abruzzo fell to 9.3% (- 2 percentage points compared to 2019), in line with the average rate of unemployment in Italy, which is down by - 1 percentage point on an annual basis.

During 2021, the recovery in productive activities and the continuation of employment support measures went hand in hand, especially from the second quarter, with an improvement in labour market conditions in Molise and the rest of southern Italy. According to ISTAT Labour Force Survey (RFL) data available at national level and broken down for different areas, average employment in southern Italy increased by 0.7% in the first half of 2021 compared with the same period the previous year (- 0.8% in Italy), although it remained 2.8 percentage points below the corresponding figure for 2019 (Figure 3.1.a). Participation in the labour market in Molise has also returned to growth, with a 12.6% increase in the number of jobseekers; this resulted in a higher unemployment rate, similar to that in the rest of the country.

The Molise region, which has a total population of 294 294 as at December 2021, includes two provinces, Campobasso and Isernia, and three employment centres in Campobasso, Termoli and Isernia. According to the latest figures, dating from 2020, the employment and unemployment rate (Source ISTAT) showed the following distribution:

• Province of Campobasso: employment rate: 48.8% unemployment rate 13.3%
• Province of Isernia: employment rate: 60.3% unemployment rate 7.9%

The province of Campobasso is home to companies in the industrial and manufacturing, trade and service sectors. Prominent companies in the industrial sector include: Pastificio La Molisana SpA (Campobasso) and Fater SpA, chemical sector with operational headquarters in Campochiario (CB) and TeamSystem, business services sector, in the Campobasso industrial area.

The Termoli area (CB) is home to the Fiat plant and allied mechanical industries, Momentives SpA, operating in the plastic sector, and other relocated metalworking companies. In the province of Isernia, Sata SpA, the SATA component group and Unilever, representing the chemical sector, are also active in the industrial hub. Neuromed, a hospital and research sector company, is prominent in the service and healthcare sector.

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An increase in employment needs is expected from the regional business system in line with the economic recovery experienced in 2021. This will affect small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the business and personal services sector, manufacturing and construction. Enterprises with employees in industry and services are now again recruiting workers at pre-pandemic levels, after a significant decline in 2020. This rapid recovery goes hand in hand with an increase in the difficulties experienced by businesses in finding the occupational profiles sought. These affect almost one third of the expected intake and can be attributed to the increasing level of experience and specialisation required of candidates. The greatest recruitment problems will be experienced with specialised occupational profiles: managers and specialists with in-depth scientific knowledge (around 40% will be difficult to find) and, in particular, specialised workers (46%). The areas are as follows: management and general services, administrative, technical and design, goods production and service provision, commercial and sales and logistics.

Most of the available posts are in the services, industry and logistics sectors. Among business services sectors, there is a demand for occupational profiles with middle-ranking to higher educational levels, such as accountants, IT professionals and engineers. The industrial sector needs line workers and mechanical and electrical maintenance workers, with technical qualifications and the logistics sector needs drivers with category C licences. For personal services, there is a demand for people meeting the occupational profiles of auxiliary staff, social and healthcare workers and nurses, especially in view of the pandemic emergency and the increase in illnesses among COVID-19 long-haulers and those who are unable to look after themselves.

In 2021, as a result of the pandemic emergency and a fall in tourist departures to other international states or destinations, there was a boom in summer visitors to the region, with the result that demand increased in the tourism and catering sector, but only on a seasonal basis. There was a demand for bar staff, sales assistants, cooks, chefs, and restaurant and bar waiters, reflected by an increase in the number of food and drink businesses.

The services sector still needs medium to highly-qualified workers, with language and computer skills.

Construction: the construction sector has rebounded following a sharp decline in activity recorded in the first half of last year. According to data provided by Molise-based construction workers’ social security funds, the number of hours worked in the region in the first months of 2021 was significantly higher than before the pandemic (Fig. 2.3.a); in the first eight months of 2021 taken as a whole, the number of hours increased by more than 20% compared with the same period of 2019 and by almost 50% compared with 2020.
 Business growth, is expected to continue next year, has affected both public works and housing. The latter was also positively influenced by tax incentives provided for by the Superbonus introduced by Decree-Law No 34/2020 (‘Relaunch’ Decree) to improve the energy efficiency and anti-seismic efficiency of buildings, with the attendant demand for specialist staff (mainly drivers of earth-moving machinery, construction electricians, specialised carpenters and bricklayers and plumbers).

Healthcare: the presence of three universities offering degree courses in the healthcare professions has provided qualified staff who are available for work, be it locally or further afield.

Other sectors: administrative staff (accounting clerks); sales assistants and other commercial occupations; warehouse workers.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, 1 574 337 people were in work in Campania, down by 71 666 compared to the previous quarter.

Of all employed in the fourth quarter of 2021, 24.5% were self-employed, while 75.5% were employees; in addition, 84% work full-time and 16% work part-time.

Eighteen-point-five per cent of workers work in education, health and social services, 16.2% in commerce, 12.9% in industry, 11.7% in financial, insurance and business services, 7.4% in construction, 7.2% in agriculture, hunting and fishing, 6.8% in public administration and defence, 6.7% in other personal and collective services, 5.5% in hotels and restaurants and 4.9% in transport and storage.

Levels of employment by occupation were mostly accounted for by managers (31.2%), followed by commercial and service employees (31%), specialised manual workers (22.1%), unskilled staff (14%) and military personnel (1.5%).

Numbers of the unemployed (388 711) were up by 6 450 compared to the previous quarter. The unemployment rate rose to 19.7%.

The forecasting surveys conducted by the Information System for Employment and Training (Unioncamere – Excelsior Project) reflect the shockwaves caused by the pandemic, which has had an unprecedented impact on the Italian economy, albeit with a strong sectoral focus: in 2020, some sectors (in particular tourism, one of the main sectors in the Campania region) were very significantly affected; the impact on others (pharmaceuticals and IT), however, has been positive.
 During 2021, rapid uptake of the vaccination plan and the effectiveness of containment measures allowed for a gradual recovery in economic activity, which consolidated and grew stronger. The economic recovery has also driven employment, with the recovery of pre-crisis positions.

In the light of this research, it is expected that some 99 580 new workers will be recruited in the April-June 2022 period.

The sectors with the highest expected recruitment are:

• Accommodation and catering services; tourism services (24 490)
• Trade (14 990)
• Construction (12 100)
• Personal services (12 090)
• Transport, logistics and storage services (10 530)

The majority of employees will have fixed-term contracts (59%), 25% will have permanent contracts, 3% will be employed under agency contracts, 1% will provide services on a collaborative basis, 6% will work on a self-employed basis and 4% will work under an apprenticeship contract.

In detail, the five occupations in the greatest demand in April 2022, for which businesses require staff to have previous experience in the sector or occupation, are:

By analysing the occupations in the greatest demand, it is possible to deduce the professions where supply will exceed the demand for employment (excess workers); these are in the following professional groups:

• managers and directors
• specialists in artistic disciplines and human and social sciences.
• pharmacists, biologists and life sciences specialists
• general construction staff
• unskilled personnel in commerce and services

The crisis generated by the epidemic has had a major impact on the regional economy. According to the quarterly indicator of regional economies (ITER) developed by the Bank of Italy, economic activity contracted by about 8% in 2020, slightly lower than the national average. The decline, which began in the first quarter, was particularly pronounced in the second quarter, when the toughest restrictions were applied, and then reduced in the next quarter, but became more marked once again in the fourth quarter.

The economic crisis generated by the pandemic has had a major impact on the regional labour market, resulting in a significant decline in hours worked and participation. On the other hand, the decline in employment has been mitigated by legislative measures aimed at countering the economic effects of the pandemic on families and on the labour market.

In 2020, the number of employees in Apulia fell by about 13 000 compared to the previous year (- 1.0%), interrupting the expansion phase that had begun in the region in 2015 (Figure 3.1)1. The fall, which was seen most of all in the second quarter of the year, was less pronounced than in the south of the country and in Italy as a whole (- 2.0% in both areas). The 10.2% reduction in hours worked in the region, on the other hand, gives a more accurate picture of the intensity of the decline in production activity.

Industry in the strict sense and services, particularly trade, hotel and catering services, have contributed to the decline in employment, while there has been a rise in employment in agriculture and construction.

The negative trend was for self-employed workers and those on fixed-term contracts (- 3.0% and - 5.3% respectively), while permanent employees, who benefited most from the freeze on redundancies and the extension of the wage guarantee fund, increased by 1.0%.

With regard to employment, according to the administrative data of the INPS Observatory on Insecure Employment, in 2020 the balance between new starters and people ending work (net hires) in the private non-agricultural sector, which had been positive in the previous year, became negative (Table a3.2). This was affected by the decline in recruitment, which was particularly pronounced during the spring months, and was only partly offset by the reduction in the number of terminations of employment, partly due to the employment protection measures introduced by the Government.

Net hires were down for all the main types of contract, with the exception of permanent contracts, which were up but fell compared to the previous year. The downward trend in net recruitment was particularly marked in tourism and leisure services (Figure 3.2.b). The effects of the pandemic have been felt by employees in all age groups and both genders, but have been particularly marked among young people and women, who are more often employed in the sectors most affected and are often employed on less stable contracts.

Employment trends led to a slight decline in the employment rate in 2020 (- 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous year): the rate in the region stood at 46.1%, below the national average by about 12 percentage points. For younger individuals (aged 15-34), the decline in the employment rate was more than triple (- 0.7 percentage points, to 30.4%).

The health emergency and the resulting lockdown measures adversely affected workers’ employment prospects, contributing to an increase in the number of inactive people (0.8% more than the previous year) and to a reduction in those seeking employment (- 7.6%). The result is a fall in the activity rate (53.8%) and in the unemployment rate, which stood at 14.0%, almost one percentage point lower than in 2019.

As a result of the health emergency, the total number of new hires planned by businesses in 2020 is about 30% lower than in 2019; in the lockdown months, the decline was more marked, but it eased in the middle of the year. In the last few months of 2020, the epidemic’s ‘second wave’ again exacerbated employment problems. The proportion of enterprises saying that they intended to take on new employees (46%) also declined, and it was reportedly difficult to find the right staff for the job in 30% of all cases. Polarisation in the occupational profiles of new hires has continued throughout this phase: there has been an increase in the proportion of managers, specialists, technicians and skilled workers, while the share of middle management has fallen. Demand for green and transversal skills remains.

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The population of Calabria is 1 844 586 (figure as at 1 January 2022). The issue of employment, in Calabria – but also in the south of Italy as a whole – is a sensitive one, which has unfortunately worsened as a result of the health crisis: from 2008 to 2020, employment fell by 10.4%. Against a backdrop of structural weakness, the Calabrian labour market was quickly hit by the adverse effects of the COVID-19 emergency. According to the ISTAT labour force survey, employment in Calabria fell from 40.8% to 42% during the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to the same period of the previous year.

Employment has returned to growth since the second quarter of the year in all areas of Italy. This was also the case for Calabria, which, however, had only partially recovered from the big drop in the previous year by midway through the first half of the year.

In the first eight months of 2021, women were again occupying around 40% of the jobs created (32% in 2020), in line with pre-pandemic levels. New jobs have also increased for younger workers. These results are mainly linked to a resumption in temporary recruitments, especially in tourism services. More than 80% of the jobs created since the beginning of 2021 have been filled under a fixed-term contract (77% in 2019); permanent contracts are still making a positive contribution due to constraints on dismissals for financial reasons and the extensive use of social safety nets.

In Calabria, the unemployment rate fell to 18% in 2021 and stood at 20% in 2020. The activity rate rose slightly from 51.3% in 2020 to 51.5% in 2021. As regards activity sectors, tourism has driven the widening gap between net positions as a result of the summer season.

Due to Calabria’s 780 km coastline, favourable climate and the national parks of Sila, Aspromonte and Pollino, tourism is the main type of economic activity, in addition to agriculture, which includes three major crop species: citrus fruits (including bergamot), olives and vines.

The most important employers are as follows: in Reggio Calabria, the former Ansaldo Breda, now part of Hitachi Rail Italy, which is a market leader and is involved in the construction of regional and metropolitan trains exported to various countries. Five hundred direct employees work there and ancillary businesses are also present. Ca.dis operates in the province of Cosenza, specialising in the manufacture of aluminium containers and rolls, and is the owner of the Alupack brands. The company is present in Italy and various foreign markets. The province of Catanzaro is home to the Abramo Group’s large printing and logistics plant, which also operates in the multichannel customer care sector. A factory belonging to Ital Tractor Sud (earthmoving equipment) also operates in Catanzaro. Metal Carpenteria, a subsidiary of Industrie Meccaniche Cremonesi, operates in Crotone. The historic company Callipo, renowned producer of canned and jarred tuna, exported to various countries, is based in the province of Vibo Valentia. Other agri-food companies enjoy a significant presence, including Mangiatorella (mineral water), Fattorie Del Sole in Reggio Calabria, Associazioni Latte Calabresi in Castrovillari (Cosenza) and Agrumaria Reggina in Reggio Calabria and Caffè Mauro in Reggio Calabria.

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According to recruitment forecasts for 2022, 72% of new hires will be in the services sector, and the remaining 28% in the industry sector. It is also forecast that 81% of recruitment will be in businesses with fewer than 50 employees. In 29% of cases it is expected that new hires will be on stable contracts, i.e. permanent or apprenticeship contracts, while 71% are expected to be short-term (fixed-term or other contracts with a predefined duration).

The most popular profiles are highly skilled workers and plant operators (30%), commercial and service professionals (27%), as well as managers, specialists and technicians. The most difficult occupational profiles to find are those relating to design, research and development in the various business areas, but also staff capable of managing information systems.

Professions in computer, physical and chemical sciences are the jobs for which companies are most likely to be unable to recruit young people: 75% of such jobs remain unfilled. Similarly, young candidates also cannot be found for more than 50% of the jobs required by enterprises, skilled workers in the wood and paper industries, metalworking and electromechanical workers, IT, engineering and manufacturing technicians, and construction and building maintenance workers. A world of opportunities is there for the taking, but cannot be grasped due to lack of staff.

Candidates in technical and design areas are difficult to find. Employers estimate that up to 42.6% of the demand for employment in this production segment will not be met in Calabria.

The next most hard-to-fill jobs are considered to be in the field of logistics, accounting for 34.8% of employment opportunities. Employers find it difficult to find staff for management and general services areas (32.5%), as well as in commercial and sales areas (28.6%). It is also difficult to find staff specialising in goods production and service provision, amounting to 28.1% of the total, and administration (21.9%).

Sardinia has special status as an autonomous region. It covers an area of 24 100 km² and its population density is about 68 per km². Regional Law No 2 of 4 February 2016 and the related Regional Council Resolution No 23/5 of 20 April 2016 reformed Sardinia’s system of autonomous local authorities. It made substantial changes to the existing system, setting up the Metropolitan City of Cagliari and the Province of Southern Sardinia. It redrew the borders of the provinces of Sassari and Oristano and abolished the provinces of Carbonia-Iglesias, Medio Campidano, Ogliastra and Olbia-Tempio.

The Metropolitan City of Cagliari has an area of 1 249 km² and the highest population density (346 people per km²), followed by Sassari (area 7 692 km²; 64 people per km²) and by the provinces of Southern Sardinia, Oristano and Nuoro.

On 31 December 2020 the total population was 1 579 181, of whom 48.89% were men and 51.11% women. The labour force in Sardinia in the last quarter of 2021 amounted to 631 300, including 359 200 men and 272 100 women. In the same period, the number of inactive individuals stood at 387 500, made up of 155 200 men and 232 300 women. A total of 75 300 was also reported in the last quarter of 2021. After the general collapse of the economy in 2020 (- 8.9% of GDP in Italy) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 can be seen as a year of relaunch in Italy but also as a year of lingering uncertainties over the future. For 2021, GDP growth was 6.5% (significantly more than the EMU average of 5.2%), which means that pre-pandemic GDP levels are likely to be reached and exceeded by 2022 based on current estimates.

Sardinia’s labour market must be examined in this context of growth, but also of economic uncertainty. In general, from a labour market perspective, the last quarter of 2021 was marked by a clear consolidation of recovery, which was already well under way by the third quarter. Overall, the main labour market indicators are very similar and even higher in some cases than those of the last year prior to the crisis (2019): this is true both for net hires and for the average daily number of jobs.

The pandemic crisis hit temporary jobs particularly hard. They fell by 22% in 2020 (in 2021 there was a marked recovery: + 4%). Permanent positions, though, remained broadly unchanged, mainly thanks to the protection offered by the ban on redundancies, and large-scale use of the supplementary wages fund.

In 2020, the hotel and restaurant sector was the one that experienced the sharpest decline in average daily jobs (- 8% compared with 2019) and also the sector that is still, albeit only slightly, negatively affected in 2021 (- 1%). The ‘other services’ sector was second most affected by the pandemic (- 3% in 2020 and + 2% in 2021). However, the industry sector held up fairly well, while the construction sector grew very significantly in 2020 (+ 6% compared to 2019) and, above all, in 2021 (+ 19%). Growth in the latter sector has been strongly supported by very generous state incentives, such as the 110% bonus.

In 2020, women’s employment was more affected than men’s employment (- 5% and - 2% respectively compared to 2019) and also tended to recover more slowly in 2021 (0% versus + 4% for men’s employment). This negative trend further exacerbates the already very marked gender gap in the regional labour market, where women’s participation has always been structurally much lower than that of men.

As can be expected on the basis of the sectoral data already observed, the sharpest declines in jobs in 2020 compared to 2019 by geographical area were recorded in places with high levels of tourism, in particular the entire area from Gallura to Baronia but, more generally, in the vast majority of Sardinia’s coastal areas. In 2021, however, a fairly widespread improvement was observed throughout the region, with the exception of some areas, particularly Sulcis.

A fairly strong correlation was observed between the impact of the pandemic and workers’ ages; younger workers lost a higher share of jobs in 2020 than in 2019 and also tended to recover more slowly than in higher age groups in 2021.

In youth employment, as for women’s employment, the current trends are likely to exacerbate a very pronounced pre-existing generational gap in the labour market.

There also seems to be a correlation between level of education and the impact of the pandemic, as those with higher degrees have shown greater resilience to the crisis: they lost a smaller share of jobs in 2020 and bounced back more strongly in 2021.
 

A generally rosy picture emerges as total jobs have returned to pre-crisis levels at a brisk pace that was probably higher than expected. At the same time, certain factors seemed to exacerbate structural weaknesses in the regional labour market, in particular the gender and generational gaps. We also need to keep an eye on all business settings

that are currently receiving public subsidies for job retention, as these situations could also lead to a loss of new permanent jobs in the future.

Sources:

• Presidency of the Region of Sardinia – Regional Statistics Office – The Labour Market – Regional Data – First Quarter of 2020
• Ministry of Labour and Social Policies – DG of Immigration and Integration Policies - Foreigners in the labour market in Italy - 2021
• ASPAL – ASPAL Observatory for the fourth quarter of 2021
• ASPAL – ASPAL Observatory for the third quarter of 2021
• ASPAL – ASPAL Observatory for the second quarter of 2021
• ASPAL – ASPAL Observatory for the first quarter of 2021
• ISTAT – Annual Report 2021 – The State of the Nation

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Labour market developments have been somewhat volatile from a sectoral point of view. The most affected sectors in absolute and relative terms were undoubtedly ‘Hotels and Restaurants’ and ‘Other Services’; the ‘Industry’ sector was very slightly affected by the crisis, while there was considerable growth in ‘Construction’ in both 2020 and 2021, being + 6% and + 19% up on 2019 respectively.

It is now a well-established fact that seasonal fluctuations in Sardinia have the greatest impact on the ‘Hotels and Restaurants’ and ‘Other Services’ sectors. Daily employment trends in these sectors show much stronger peaks than in other sectors in the summer period. These two sectors suffered most during the peak of the crisis (in 2020).

These sectors (in particular ‘Hotels and restaurants’) also experienced a delay in recovery during March to June 2021.

At that time, the red area (2021) occupied less space than the grey area (2019). The ‘Hotels and restaurants’ sector did not return to growth until later in the year, i.e. between July and December, but this was not enough to restore the sector to the black.

This situation is clearly illustrated by the fact that the ‘Hotels and restaurants’ sector was the only sector showing fewer daily jobs in 2021 than in 2019: - 1%.

According to data issued by Unioncamere as part of the Excelsior project, the sectors that are the main drivers of employment in Sardinia are tourism and catering, retail and wholesale trade, construction and business and personal services. Catering, sales and cleaning staff are among the most popular occupations on the island.

The crisis has affected economic sectors and contract types to differing extents. This trend can also be seen from a geographical point of view.

Figures for 2021 were higher for the various areas than in other years. However, this trend was not constant throughout the year: for example, levels in the April to June period in 2019 were higher than in 2021 in the province of Sassari.

A positive trend was observed in 2021 in all provinces. The provinces most affected by the crisis, in terms of jobs, were Sassari and Nuoro, with downswings of - 6% and - 4% respectively in 2020 compared to 2019. Levels returned to positive values in 2021 in these areas, as well as in the other provinces. This is because Sassari is the province where the tourism sector has the greatest impact on overall jobs and, as mentioned above, tourism struggled more to recover than other sectors, especially in the first part of the tourist season.

The results for 2020 are mainly negative, especially in municipalities that are the most popular tourist destinations (particularly in the north-eastern part of Sardinia). This trend is mainly due to a sharp reduction in recruitment in the hotel and restaurant sector (as well as in other tourism-related sectors). However, the 2021 survey showed that the positive signs of recovery in the labour market after the collapse of the previous year were still continuing. The recovery appears to be fairly broad-based, although in some areas the crisis seems to be lingering into 2021, particularly the Sulcis and Baronia areas.

The labour market in the region of Sardinia has been affected by a big gender gap in the past few months. Women’s employment levels fell more than those of men in 2020 (- 5% versus - 2%), while women’s levels were still more negative than men’s in 2021 (0% versus + 4%) despite making up ground that had been lost in the previous year.

This structure, which already places women at a disadvantage, has become even more pronounced since the beginning of the crisis. The crisis has helped exacerbate the pre-existing gender gap. While 2020 affected both genders negatively in almost all sectors, with the exception of the construction sector, the figures tell a different story in 2021. Men’s employment figures underwent a slight improvement in industry and in the ‘Hotels, Restaurants and Commerce’ sector. A more marked improvement was recorded in the ‘Services’ sector and a strong surge of + 18% (or + 4 180 units in absolute terms) took place in the ‘Construction’ sector. Although women are under-represented compared to men in the latter sector, it experienced an increase of 20% compared to 2019. While the above findings support the idea that the construction sector is growing steadily, results for the ‘Hotels and Restaurants’ sector are a source of concern, particularly as regards women’s employment. This was the only negative result for 2021, showing a decline in jobs amounting to around 1 000 in absolute terms and - 2% in relative terms.

Sicily covers an area of 25 832.55 km² and, due to its particular topographical configuration, has a population density of 185.39 inhabitants per km². Its area is 25 832.55 Km² and, due to its particular topographical configuration, it is home to a population of 4 801 468 in 2022.

According to 2021 data, the active population turnover rate is 126.8, showing that the working-age population is very old. (ISTAT data compiled by TUTTITALIA.it)

According to Eurostat statistics on the labour market, Sicily’s employment rate for people between 15 and 64 years is 41.1% while the average rate for the 27-member EU is 68.4%. The employment rate for women aged 20-64 stands at 29.1%.

As regards unemployment rates, Eurostat statistics show that around 4 out of 10 young people in Sicily were unemployed in 2021. In southern Italy, fewer than 1 in 3 women (32.9%) were employed in the 15-64 age group, compared with an EU average of 63.4% and an Italian average of 49.4%.

An update to the regional economic and finance report (DEFR) for 2022-2024 gave an encouraging picture. The report showed that Sicily’s economic recovery is genuine and should comfortably allow a return to the pre-pandemic level by the second quarter of 2022. The significant economic growth trends outlined in state and regional financial reports for the period 2021-2024 reflect a scenario in which investment and credit can both play driving roles. This will have to be done primarily through more efficient administrations.

Strengthening digitisation and green transition measures will, however, be the main pillars for Sicily’s growth over the next three years. (Source: Update to DEFR 2022-2024 – Regional Government Decision No 445 of 27/10/2021)

The estimated intake for the period May-July 2022 in Sicily is 94 990, according to the estimated levels of jobseekers looking for practical information: adapt the content and your language to this target.

The figure for May alone was 26 650. In 26% of cases, new contracts are expected to be for stable posts, i.e. permanent employment or apprenticeship, while 74% will be fixed-term or under other contracts with a pre-determined length. Thirty per cent of this intake will be made up of young people under the age of 30.

Seventy-nine per cent of the jobs will be concentrated in the service sector and 76% in companies with fewer than 50 employees; 15% will be for managers, specialists and technicians. Thirteen per cent of the expected intake will be made up of graduate staff, 33% of graduates, 15% of people with a vocational qualification or diploma and 38% of people with no qualifications.

The main activity sectors affected by the new hires are Tourism Services, Personal Services, Operational Support Services to Businesses and People, Construction and Trade.

According to the Excelsior System, the professions in demand during the quarter May-July 2022 were, at management level, highly specialised professions and technicians, IT, engineering and production technicians – Sales, marketing and commercial distribution technicians – Health and education technicians; at the level of clerical, commercial and service professions, cooks, waiters, shop assistants, receptionists, administrative and secretarial staff; at the level of skilled workers and plant and machine operators, construction and building maintenance workers, transport vehicle operators, metalworkers, specialised workers and plant operators.

In the category of unskilled professions, there was a demand for unqualified staff in cleaning services and other personal services, porters and couriers.