«Surprising growth». A wave of sincere and happy surprise accompanied the words that the deputy director of SvimezStefano Prezioso, reserved for Puglia on the occasion of Expojob 2024, the job fair organized by Arpal (Regional Agency for Active Labor Policies) which will close today in Miggiano, in Salento, and which has as its aim precisely that of facilitating the meeting between supply and demand for employment, promoting the work placement of unemployed, unemployed, NEETs and workers so-called “disadvantaged”.
«In the panorama of the South – said Prezioso – Puglia stands out clearly and also largely exceeds the employment growth rates of the Centre-North», where the entrepreneurial fabric is notoriously richer and better structured than that of the southern regions. Yet, Svimez argues, something is changing.
The data
In the four-year period from 2019 to 2023, Puglia saw the number of workers grow by 76,600 units, i.e. by +6.3%. A significant leap forward and probably also linked to the rebound effect after the forced stop of the Covid pandemic. In particular, there were 41,100 more men employed (+5.3%) and 35,500 women who started working, equal to 8.2% more. A percentage, the latter, which can only give rise to hope in light of the fact that from Bankitalia to Confindustria, from trade unions to political economists, female participation in the labor market is unanimously considered indispensable to guarantee the development of the South and of the country .
A few more numbers. The trend in employment between 2019 and 2023, analyzed by sector of activity and geographical area, confirms that if the South grows by 2.3%, the Centre-North by 0.9% and Italy, as a whole, by 1.3%. Puglia had a leap forward of 4.5% in the various industrial sectors and of 6.3% in the services sector, which also includes trade and tourism. And that the region wants to continue racing is also demonstrated by the excellent participation recorded in Expojob in recent days, despite the pouring rain that could prove to be an obstacle. In fact, in the afternoon of the opening day alone, 437 interviews were carried out by the approximately 80 companies present in the various pavilions.
However, this organizational reorganization of Arpal and the positive signals coming from Istat and Svimez must be accompanied by an ever-incisive activity by the Region to attract businesses and investments and a prudent policy by the Government.
The study presented by Prezioso, in fact, highlighted how in the years of recession between 2008 and 2013, instead of adopting expansionary measures, Italy implemented restrictive policies, causing an increase in debt of 29.2 points of GDP. Instead, between 2020 and 2023, Italian governments chose to adopt expansive measures to counter the effects of the pandemic and the energy crisis, causing a growth in public debt of around 3 points of GDP, less than in the rest of the Eurozone (5, 9 points) and the USA (14.5 points). “And it would have been even more contained if only the Superbonus, which cost 100 billion – underlined Prezioso – had been better modulated”.
Therefore, the recipe for supporting growth, which is starting to see the first results flourish in Puglia, exists and is built on the word trust. Confidence in the future.
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