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Italian firms bridge abilities gap with own education

After years of casual work as a farm labourer, Federico Olivieri, 29, might not believe it when a substantial structure site appeared next to his home in Sicily with training available for the many specialised jobs needed.

The program by Italy's biggest building group Webuild is among a growing number of 'academies' run and financed by companies annoyed by numerous job-seekers lacking the know-how.

We are being proactive about the issue. If the abilities aren't there, then we will create them ourselves, Webuild's. Chief HR, Company & & Systems Officer Gianluca Grondona told. of the group's programme, which it launched in November.

Skill mismatches are a global problem however for Italy,. with the lowest employment rate in the EU and performance that. has stagnated for more than 20 years, it is acute.

Regardless of a big swimming pool of individuals looking for work or outside the. labour market, job rates stood at 2.5% in the very first quarter. of 2024, in line with the EU average, information from European Union. statistics agency Eurostat shows. This compares to 2.8% in. France and 0.9% in Spain in the same duration.

Trade schools and colleges are fewer and less popular. in Italy than in a lot of European countries, think-tank Prometeia. highlighted in a June report, and even those that there are stop working. to produce students with the right proficiency.

At the exact same time, a lot of youths are still studying. topics with lower market need, such as liberal arts, it said.

The issue has ended up being more severe with the quick. development of new technologies, as Rome invests in. European-Union-backed infrastructure projects as part of its. post-COVID recovery strategy, worth about 200 billion euros ($ 214. billion).

Huge companies like Webuild, shipbuilder Fincantieri. , and state train group Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) are. taking matters into their own hands.

On top of its apprenticeships, FS communicates with universities. and schools to use students more targeted courses.

As the company modifications, abilities alter and we require particular. abilities, especially when it pertains to digital and. synthetic intelligence-based tasks, said Adriano Mureddu, its. Chief Human Resources Officer.

TUNNEL-BORING

Olivieri, who trained as an agronomist, was annoyed by a. succession of short-lived, underpaid agreements in a Sicilian. agricultural sector undercut by cheap imports of citrus fruit.

He signed up with Webuild's program this year and now works with. tunnel-boring machines at its website on Sicily's eastern coast.

The courses are an incredible opportunity for those who are. willing to discover something brand-new ... you can't miss out on a chance like. this, he said.

Webuild aims to source from its work academies some 3,000. people out of 10,000 brand-new hires it imagines over the next 3. years. The academies are close to its infrastructure work websites,. mainly in southern areas where joblessness is high.

Lorenzo Esposito Corcione, a 19-year-old who studied at. nautical school in Genoa, is among 80 people worked with by. Fincantieri after being trained under its 'Masters of the Sea'. program introduced eight months back. The program drew 17,000. applicants.

Without the course I would not be here, Esposito Corcione. informed at the end of his shift as an electrics fitter in. the shipyard of the north-eastern port of Monfalcone.

There is a world of distinction in between what I studied in. school and what is really being done here in the lawn.

NUMBERS ISSUE

Italy deals with an issue not only of skills however also of. numbers. It has one of the world's oldest populations and most affordable. fertility rates at 1.2 kids per female and meanwhile, the. baby-boomers of the 1960s are now retiring.

This implies in the next five years Italy will need 3.1 to 3.6. million new employees, company group Unioncamere price quotes.

By 2050, Italy will have almost 5 million less individuals, and. more than a third of them will be over 65, nationwide data. workplace ISTAT anticipates. Younger blood is badly needed in a host. of markets, from building and tourism to farming.

Despite its anti-immigration rhetoric, Giorgia Meloni's. conservative government last year silently raised quotas for work. visas for non-EU people to 452,000 for the period 2023-2025,. a boost of almost 150% from the previous three years.

Italy has attracted workers from somewhere else in the EU,. in spite of its earnings being reasonably low, however this has actually not assisted. resolve its abilities inequality.

In the meantime, the academies and training used by huge companies are. minimizing the problem, supplying priceless chances to. people like Pasquale Infante, 28, who has just starting work as. a pipeline fitter at Fincantieri's Marghera plant near Venice.

These programs are good for employees and great for. companies ... they are teaching people the skills they need, he. stated.

(source: Reuters)