Dear director Franceschi,
I attach what was published today in the newspaper l’Adige, also to allow the readers of Opinione to view it.
Achille Spinelli
Pat Councilor – Economic Development – Work – University – Research
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I take the opportunity of this important anniversary to try to make some arguments that pertain to the world of work, to the lives of workers, but which at the same time have an impact on the entire economic and social fabric of our Trentino.
The concept of work cannot fail to change because – especially in recent years – the reference model of our own society is radically changing, the way that women, young people, but now also more traditional categories of workers conceive of work. . Everything changes at such a speed that either we understand the speed of change and at the same time grasp its interesting potential, or we risk finding ourselves behind in a very short time and uncompetitive in the global market. What must not change is the attention to work, the culture of work, of commitment at the basis of our society.
We know well how and how much the cost of living has increased since the post-Covid period, and above all as a consequence of the complicated geopolitical situation of the last two years. We experience it firsthand every day, simply while doing the shopping.
Inflation, combined with the increase in energy costs, has eroded the purchasing power of families, putting many workers in difficulty, families who, despite receiving an income, find it more difficult than in the past to manage their lives.
Trentino’s response to this situation must be to invest in quality work, training, professional growth and also in the creation of new jobs for young people and women which favor a virtuous circle between work-conciliation tools. We must create a context of collective well-being that leads to thinking positively about the future and that also pushes families to have more children.
The rhetoric of social assistance to support lost income must be overcome, no one must be left behind, but those who can work must be put in a position to do so with dignity, so that they can create a future including social security and welfare. Our area needs to create more services to support families, not only to accompany the growth of the little ones but also to support the needs of aging people.
The reflection we have started on the wage issue together with the social partners fits into this context, a topic that must be addressed together with that of welfare. Our territory needs workers with skills to grow, processes must be automated, products innovated, we must go more to international markets. Those who are already in our companies must be trained and new workers must be attracted, but at the same time we must work on salaries and careers.
The world of work is much more fluid and global than in the past, young people are resigning, giving up permanent jobs, looking for more stimulating jobs, comparing different offers, making choices. It is therefore the employers who must “present themselves well”, balance the issues of wages, with those of services, with housing, with training, with working hours. Then there is the issue of retaining trained workers.
The experience of the pandemic has helped reprioritize the lives of many. If past generations often almost identified themselves with the work they did, or in any case it absorbed most of their existence, today we see that this is no longer the case. Work represents, especially in the eyes of young people, only one element of one’s life that is functional to the achievement of other objectives. Personal fulfillment no longer occurs only in the workplace as it did in the past. Work has undergone a strong downsizing in the imagination of many, and employers and political decision-makers must deal with this scenario.
