FOR THE quality of work and, consequently, corporate well-being, Basilicata has the negative record in Italy. they have no equal in the rest of the country. This is the sad picture that emerges from the analysis conducted by the research office of the Cgia – the Association of artisans and small businesses of Mestre – which obtained this score by comparing 8 indicators, mainly of a qualitative nature, which were ” extrapolated” from the BES (Equal Sustainable Wellbeing) report, presented a few weeks ago by Istat.
REGIONAL GAPs
The study highlights that, in terms of quality of work and well-being, Lombardy leads the way among the regions of our country, with a score of 86.3 percent. Followed by the autonomous Province of Bolzano and Veneto, while just off the podium are the autonomous Province of Trento, Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta. In short, all Northern regions. On the contrary, the regions of the South are very bad: with the exception of Sardinia, they are all placed in the lower part of the ranking. The most critical situations, unfortunately, concern Sicily, Calabria and Basilicata, which occupies the last place in the national ranking with a score of 12.5 percent. The final ranking for quality of work and well-being was determined by 8 indicators (with Istat data) examined by the CGIA, namely: employees with low pay; over-educated employed; employed with fixed-term jobs for at least 5 years; fatal injury and permanent disability rates; irregularly employed; satisfaction with the work performed; perception of employment insecurity; involuntary part time.
LOW PAY
With regard to low-paid employees, i.e. those with an hourly wage lower than 2/3 of the median of the total number of employees, Basilicata is placed in fifth last place (14.2 percent) with 20 points, doing better only than Campania ( 15 points), Sicily (10), Puglia (5) and Calabria (0). The autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano are in the lead, with 100 and 95 points respectively, followed by Lombardy (90).
OVER-EDUCATED
With regard to those employed who have a higher educational qualification than that required to carry out the profession, Basilicata is second to last, with 33.2 percent (5 points), ahead only of Molise (0 points). On the podium the autonomous Province of Bolzano, Lombardy and Piedmont.
PRECARIOUS
The percentage of Lucanian fixed-term employees and collaborators who started their current job at least 5 years ago is 25.7 percent in the region (5 points), better only than Sicily, which is last with 27.9%. Much lower data – between 10 and 13% – in Lombardy, Piedmont and Veneto, first in the ranking.
ACCIDENTS
With regard to fatal accidents and those that caused permanent disability in 2022 for every 10 thousand employed, Basilicata is second to last with 16.1 percent (5 points) preceded by Abruzzo (14.7% and 10 points) and followed by ‘Umbria with 16.7% and zero points). The most virtuous, however, is Lombardy with 7.4 percent, followed by Piedmont (7.5%) and Lazio (7.6%).
IRREGULAR
The best indicator for Basilicata is that relating to irregular work (percentage of employed people who do not comply with current legislation on labour, tax and social security matters), which remains present above all in the South, with peaks of 16 percent for every 100 employed people in Sicily , 16.5% in Campania and 19.6% in Calabria. In this special ranking, Basilicata is placed in 14th place (out of 21) with a percentage of 13.3 percent, better than the southern regions, except Abruzzo (12.8%). The lowest level, however, is once again found in the autonomous province of Bolzano with 7.9 percent, ahead of Veneto (8.1%) and Friuli Venezia Giulia (8.6%).
SATISFACTION
As for satisfaction with one’s job, i.e. satisfaction with the level of remuneration obtained, the hours worked, the stability of the job, the career opportunities, the distance between home and work, the quality and consequent well-being, the Basilicata reaches a percentage of 42.3 percent of “satisfied” people and is placed in penultimate place in the ranking, behind Calabria (43.8%) and ahead of Campania, last with 41.2 percent. Those satisfied reach the highest point of 61.7 percent in Valle d’Aosta. They follow with 61.1% in the autonomous province of Trento and with 60.5% in the autonomous province of Bolzano. What emerges in general, however, is that in Italy practically one employee in two is not satisfied with the job he or she does (48.3 percent of the total).
INSECURITY
The fear of losing one’s job in the next six months and of not being able to find another one is widespread especially in the South and in Basilicata it reaches its highest point, equal to 8.8 percent (Italian average 41%). The other most critical situations concern those employed in Sicily (6.4%, second to last) and those in Calabria (5.9%, third to last). The most “serene”, however, are the workers of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano: in 2023 only 2.4 percent expressed a perception of insecurity in their job. This is followed by Lombardy (3.1%) and Veneto (3.2%).
FORCED PART TIME
Finally, the range of indicators examined by the CGIA Research Office ends with the percentage of involuntary part-time present for every 100 employed, i.e. those who in 2023 declared that they had been hired with a part-time contract, because not they found one full time. In this ranking, Basilicata is placed in 16th place, with 12.1 percent. The most critical situations involved Molise with 13.8 percent, Sardinia with 14.7% and Sicily with 14.8%. Once again the autonomous Province of Bolzano, with 3.8 percent of employed people, turned out to be the most virtuous reality in Italy. Ahead of Veneto (6.7%) and Emilia Romagna (7.0%).
THE ESCAPE FROM A FIXED PLACE
After the pandemic, explains the association, “our labor market has also undergone important transformations. In many areas of the country, for example, companies are increasingly struggling to find profiles with adequate skills; therefore, never before have they needed to retain their collaborators more than now. This operation is taking place through a series of very virtuous behaviors; such as, for example, the payment of higher salaries, the transformation of fixed-term contracts into indefinite periods, the possibility of allowing employees to work more flexible hours, through the use of more innovative professional tools, encouraging career advancement and, finally, with the implementation of benefits and corporate welfare. In the North this process of improving corporate well-being, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises, has been underway for some years now. Despite this, the escape from the permanent job continues.”
The CGIA adds that when the supply of labor is strongly increasing and demand is scarce, the risk that companies “steal” their best employees is very high. According to the INPS, in fact, the voluntary resignations of private permanent employees under 60 years of age are increasing: in 2022 they reached 1,047,000 and, compared to 2019, they grew by 236 thousand units (+29.1 percent).
