Porta Futuro is the service of the Municipality of Bari that helps to match supply and demand in the world of work, launched in December 2015 in the abandoned spaces of the former Tobacco Factory in the Libertà district. A service that has increasingly expanded. We talked about it with the deputy mayor Eugenio Di Sciascio.
Which job offers can you best satisfy through Porta Futuro?
“Considering in particular the most recent period, the most successful selections took place in the large-scale retail trade, telecommunications, services, production, logistics and warehouse sectors”
Which ones are the most difficult to satisfy?
“Beyond the STEM sectors, in particular engineers and computer scientists, there is strong demand for profiles such as maintenance workers, welders, blacksmiths, electricians, plumbers, qualified construction workers. We observe that even where a degree is not required, profiles with some form of specialization are still sought.”
How difficult has it become to match supply and demand?
“Recently, particularly if we take into consideration the post-Covid period, crossing has not become more difficult at all, but the job market has changed and the demands have changed. Today the job market is looking for increasingly specialized and professionalized profiles, also to be trained, but to be included in targeted paths and with basic skills on which to build. This represents a challenge for people looking for work or is difficult for more senior profiles with obvious difficulties in readjusting. Therefore, Porta Futuro tries to place itself alongside companies to study involvement and training strategies, but also alongside citizens to support them in research”.
How many curricula are entrusted to Porta Futuro and how many percentages of these can it satisfy?
“If we limit ourselves to the last 12 months, there were over 5,500 people accredited at the PF Bari and Metropolitani counters. Some turned to the supply/demand matching services that we directly manage, but a large portion asked for support in active research aimed at other channels, orientation consultancy, skills assessments, business start-up interviews. If we focus on PF’s pre-selection service, in the last year the selection paths (including recruiting days) and the job advertisements managed, coordinated or published by us have favored around 300 job placements with various types of contracts or collaboration, given partial which does not include searches still open or awaiting feedback”.
What is the next step to improve the match between supply and demand in the world of work in Bari?
“To improve the match between supply and demand in the world of work in Bari, it is necessary to work on training courses dedicated to the needs of companies looking for professional figures with specific basic skills; use tools such as apprenticeships to encourage on-the-job learning processes”.
Has the average age of people looking for work increased? What is the typical profile of someone who shows up at Porta Futuro looking for work?
“Looking at the data, it is not possible to enclose the large audience of PF in one or a few types of users, we can essentially highlight that in the first years of activity PF Bari intercepted a large portion of citizens of social, cultural and high-level education backgrounds. medium-low, and then progressively raise the level based on the job requests of companies looking for profiles with greater skills. Recently, however, with the reduction of the subsidy, many former recipients of RdC have returned to ask for support, in Bari as well as in the metropolitan branches of Pf. among these a predominantly over 40 audience. In particular for these figures who have to “get back into the game “Accompanying support like the one that PF tries to offer is essential, aware that it is not easy for these people to re-enter the job market.”
