May Day is Labor Day. We are republishing some of the interviews which, by telling stories of those who have a job, have lost it or would like to change it, have sparked more debate and comments among readers of the digital community. Here is the recent interview with Marcello Albergoni, head of LinkedIn Italy.
«There has been a reversal of the concept of job supply and demand. Now companies must learn to be attractive and workers must tell their story.” Word of Linkedin. Or rather, of Marcello Albergoni «country manager», that is, the Italian head of the social media for work which – between people and companies – has around 19 million members in Italy and around one billion worldwide. Its observatory offers a 360-degree view. Not only in virtual terms, since the Linkedin headquarters, on the nineteenth floor in Porta Garibaldiis flooded with light that enters from the windows overlooking the four cardinal points. About forty people work therebut if it weren’t for some classic workstations, i.e. desks and computers, it wouldn’t even seem like an office, but rather a place of entertainment: musical instruments, table football and ping pong, bicycles available to those who want to use them, changing room with showers, sofas of all shapes, a large “kitchen” which seems like a place taken from the nightlife of the Garibaldi area, and then soundproofed rooms for concentrating, holding meetings or relaxing, even with a record player and wine. Yet, here the work is the core business, the very raison d’être of all this mess. And it is worth catching the gaze of those who lead the enormous platform of meetings between supply and demand.
Albergoni, what is the work scenario, seen from here?
“It is moving, even if last year cooled down a bit, with an 18.9% drop in hiring compared to 2022, but companies continue to need to bring people on board.”
So why was there that drop?
«First of all, the numbers were still exposed to post-pandemic rebounds, with companies that had evidently brought on board too many people, while others that were looking had to deal with their own inability to meet the necessary figures».
Here we are at the point: how this meeting works, which seems to have become more complicated in recent times, despite the platforms and databases.
«We could say that it is a mutual story, everyone must have the pleasure of bringing their beauties to light. Anyone looking for a job must say who they are, talk about themselves, make themselves known. More than his educational or job qualification, he must highlight his skills, the many things that he knows how to do and that he knows, also because they are rapidly evolving and companies are looking for precisely those, not the job title. And for their part, companies must be attractive, clean, aware of the reversal of the concept of “job offer”. This, at least, is what we explain to our clients: from the CEO on down, we need to create an environment that pleases them. Also because the data from our latest research says that 6 out of 10 workers, i.e. 61 percent, are evaluating new opportunities”.
Why?
«The main motivation is certainly the possibility of a salary increase, as declared by 34 percent of those interviewed, but immediately after, at 23 percent, there is the search for a better work-life balance, that is, a quality of days in balance between life and work. And it is above all women who push this dynamic.”
These are national trends, but how does an area like Milan, where the majority of your members are concentrated, behave?
«Milan anticipates and shows more clearly the dynamics that then manifest themselves throughout the country, and beyond. So this scenario is very Milanese.”
Let’s go back to workers who want to present themselves on the market, for example a fifty-year-old who finds himself forced to get back into the game when he thought he no longer had to. Advice?
«You have to be there and tell your story. That is, having a profile that really speaks about you, that reveals the many skills you have acquired over the years, and not only those related to work, but also your passions, volunteering, hobbies, everything that says who you really are beyond of the fact that you know how to read and fill in an Excel sheet. And then follow the companies that interest you, that inspire you, possibly participate in discussions, daily reflections, make yourself heard. Obviously this applies to the digital side, then possibly we need to seize the opportunities for physical relationships, the classic networking. But these things don’t just concern fifty-year-olds, they are valid at any age.”
But there are skills that are more in demand than others.
«The ten emerging workers, i.e. those with the greatest growth in the last five years, are: business development officer, artificial intelligence engineer, SOC analyst, sustainability specialist, cloud engineer, data engineer, purchasing manager, cyber security engineer, cloud consultant and tax expert But everything is constantly changing. And the interviewees of our research confirm this: 74 percent consider re-skilling necessary, and the percentage rises to 80 among millenials, and then artificial intelligence will have a huge impact on the current panorama, it will be a transition” .
Many companies, however, struggle to find workers and manual workers and push young people towards paths like the ITS. How does Linkedin interact with the “blue collar” segment?
«In fact it is a less present world, but we are getting there. Originally this was a platform for “consultants” and developers, then it expanded and also involved the world of commerce and large-scale retail trade, with searches for warehouse or checkout workers. Now we are trying to convince companies, universities and schools to show off, to complete the job panorama.”
And then there are the people who leave their jobs, the so-called «Great thank you». A few days ago, a 27-year-old girl told - that she left her job without having another because she felt alone in a situation of non-government by the company. Is it a recurring attitude?
«In Italy, at least in numbers, the phenomenon is much less evident than in the United States. Let’s say, however, that a theme has clearly arisen for companies: how not to lose workers who have laboriously found and then trained. Because it is true that confusion or disorientation can be created once one enters large, complex but perceived distant organisations. We also try to talk to managers about this, about the role of leadership at all levels, because it is not at all true that a company is like a family, and for this very reason we need to be very careful in order to keep people on board” .
