A few days before the May 1st holiday, the CGIA wanted to measure the quality of the labor market in the Veneto, arriving at the conclusion that, in Italy, only Lombardy and the Autonomous Province of Bolzano have a better average result than ours ( see Chart 1). The score of this analysis was obtained by comparing 8 indicators, mainly of a qualitative nature, which were “recovered” from the BES (Sustainable Fair Wellbeing) report, presented about ten days ago by Istat.
Compared to pre-Covid we have 72 thousand more employees
Before analyzing the data from the CGIA research, in this report the artisans from Mestre illustrated the trend in employment in Veneto in recent years. The change that emerged is very positive. Compared to 2019 (pre-pandemic year), last year there were 72 thousand more employees in our region (+3.3 percent), while in the last year the increase was even 80 thousand units (+3, 7 percent). Given these results, in 2023 the overall number of employed people in Veneto amounted to 2,226,000 units (see Tab. 1).
Padua and Treviso lead employment growth
At the provincial level, the increases in jobs affected, in particular, Padua and Treviso. In the capital of Santo, for example, compared to 2019 the employment increase was 26,200 units (+6.4 percent), while in the Marca the number of people increased by 21,000 units (+5.5 percent). In the last 4 years only Rovigo and Belluno have recorded scores preceded by the minus sign. In the last year, however, all 7 Veneto provinces have seen an increase in the number of employed people: with peaks of +6.2 percent in Treviso (in absolute terms +23,400) and +5.7 percent in Padua ( +23,500) (see Tab. 2).
Veneto: at the top for workplace quality
As we said above, analyzing the results that emerge from the reading of the 8 indicators on the quality of work present in the 21 regions of Italy, Veneto is positioned on the lowest step of the podium: only Lombardy and the Autonomous Province of Bolzano are better than us . The indicators examined were the following:
1 – low paid employees;
2 – over-educated employed;
3 – employed with fixed-term jobs for at least 5 years;
4 – rates of fatal accidents and permanent disability;
5 – non-regular employed;
6 – satisfaction with the work done;
7 – perception of employment insecurity;
8 – involuntary part time.
Well, in this grid only in two cases the outcome referred to Veneto is not particularly satisfactory: it concerns the number of over-educated employees and the satisfaction with the work carried out. In the first case we place ourselves in 10th place in the national ranking with 27.8 percent of those interviewed reporting that they possess a higher educational qualification than the one most commonly possessed to carry out that profession out of the total number of employed people. In the second case, however, Veneto even slips to 13th place in the national ranking. “Only” 52.3 percent of those interviewed expressed an average satisfaction score between 8 and 10 for the following aspects of the work performed: earnings, career opportunities, number of hours worked, job stability, home-work distance, interest in the job (see Tab. 3).
-·Many critical issues still remain
Although we can count on these significantly important results, there are still some critical issues that we struggle to overcome. The main one remains the low employment rate, particularly among women. The trend recorded by VAT numbers should not be overlooked either; compared to 2019, the overall number in Veneto decreased by 16,600 units (-3.5 percent). Not to mention that, unfortunately, we have historically had lower average salary levels than the main EU regions, due to a very low level of labor productivity and a still excessively high NEET rate.
