«The aging of the workforce in Italy – reads a Unioncamere note – is not only a demographic emergency, but a brake on the competitiveness, productivity, and digital and sustainable transition of businesses, as emerges from the latest analyses by Unioncamere and its Tagliacarne Study Center based on original elaborations and institutional sources».
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According to Unioncamere estimates, companies capable of attracting and retaining talents under 35 – the note continues – show a +7.2% increase in productivity and, Istat shows, «companies with more young people run faster than others, registering a growth in turnover and employment exceeding 1.5 percentage points». The propensity for process innovation grows up to an average age of 36 for employees and product innovation up to 42, then visibly declines: «Given the current composition of the workforce, the result is that 60% of Italian companies have already exceeded the age threshold beyond which the drive to innovate decreases (Istat)».
And here is the recipe from the Chambers of Commerce: implementing actions capable of reversing the trend, for example, bringing half of young expats back to Italy, would produce an enormous benefit, estimated at 12 billion euros, equivalent to half a point of GDP. «New generations live with fewer cultural, territorial, and social barriers compared to the past – says the president of Unioncamere, Andrea Prete -. Thanks to initiatives like Erasmus, they naturally feel like European citizens. Europe is a concrete space for study, work, and opportunities. They compare salaries, quality of work, access to innovation, and growth possibilities. It is a profound cultural change, speaking of a new idea of life, family, and personal fulfillment. Valuing their creativity and capacity for innovation requires a common effort. The Chambers of Commerce are on the field and ready to bridge the gap between businesses and the education system». Tens of thousands of young Italians have also been forced to move outside Europe, attracted by jobs paid much better than in Italy and by exceptional personal and professional growth opportunities (just think of the many Italian tech graduates in the American Silicon Valley – a startup paradise – , in finance in Great Britain, or in industry and banking in Japan).
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Meanwhile, the Unioncamere analysis recalls, in the last twenty years in Italy, employed people over 50 have doubled (from 20% to about 40%), while the share of those under 35 has plummeted from 35% to less than 25% (Cnel).
Yet, young people are the true engine of transformation, the Chambers of Commerce clearly state. As shown by the Excelsior Information System, by Unioncamere and the Ministry of Labor, businesses annually allocate about 28% of the contracts they plan to make to those under 30. But last year, 48% of these positions were considered difficult to fill, predominantly (31%) due to a lack of candidates. I would also add that young people often encounter cumbersome and convoluted recruiting processes, sometimes humiliating for budding talents.
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