The drop in hiring recorded in the Bergamo area in the first quarter of 2024 concerns the entire territory, from the plains to the valleys, from the hinterland to the lake. Apart from the capital, which recorded a very slight increase in new entries into the job market (+0.9%), the snapshot by geographical area of the Report presented on Friday in Via Tasso shows only negative variations, starting with the provincial total ( -4.1%), given that between January and March 2024 there were 33,072 hires compared to 34,472 in the same period in 2023.
The black jersey goes to Trescore Balneario, where the decrease is even -19.5%: in the first quarter of this year there were 1,234 new contracts against 1,532 a year earlier. It’s no better Lovere, where hiring fell by -15.9%, a sign that the Bergamo Brescia Capital of Culture effect is showing the first signs of a slowdown. Even in Val Seriana the percentage drop is in double digits Albino (-10.7%), only a little more contained a Clusone (-7.8%). They also retreat Grumello del Monte (-5.8), St. Peter’s Bridge (-5.5) and the plain, although here the phenomenon can certainly be considered physiological after the hiring exploit due to the opening of the new logistics facilities: the drop is more significant in Treviglio (-7%), less important a Roman of Lombardy (-1.1%). Stable, however, Zognowith only -0.1%, while Bergamo city rises by 0.9%.
In the face of a general reduction in hiring, again in the first quarter of 2024 the overall terminations recorded by the Employment Report remained at the same levels as at the beginning of 2023 (30,520 in January-March 2024 against 30,289 in 2023, equal to a growth of +0.8%).
The area that records the greatest increase in terminations of employment relationships is that of Romano (1,861 against 1,638 in the first quarter of 2023, therefore +13.6%), followed closely by Clusone (660 against 589, +12%). In Bergamo city, terminations rose from 11,725 at the beginning of 2023 to 12,214 (+4.2%), in Grumello del Monte they went from 3,155 to 3,227 (+2.3%). They slow down, however, especially in the areas of Trescore (-16.9%) and Albino (-12.9%), but also in Ponte S. Pietro (-3.5%), Lovere (-2.3%) and Treviglio (-1.8%). Stable in Zogno (0.3%).
Positive balance
Of course, the provincial balance between hirings (33,072) and terminations (30,520) is positive by 2,552 units between January and March 2024, but the figures are well below the same period in 2023 (+4,183) and the previous two years (+4,134 in 2022, +3,454 in 2021). The balances of the individual employment centers are also positive, except for Clusone (-80): Albino 147, Bergamo 1,307, Grumello 205, Lovere 102, Ponte S. Pietro 380, Romano 68, Trescore 209, Treviglio 188, Zogno 26 .
Examining the data from 2019 to today, hiring in the provincial territory has increased (last year there were a total of 128,667, of which 52,711 in Bergamo, against 114,772 five years ago, of which 44,653 in the capital), except for the collapse of 2020, when there were only 87,679 in total, however the growth rates are no longer those of the post-Covid years.
Employment in Bergamo is therefore holding up, despite the lower demand for labor from industry (-11.5%), also thanks to an unemployment rate of just 2.9% at the end of 2023, and even the unions do not yet say they are worried, but are waiting to see the data for the second quarter of 2024 to understand if we can talk about an actual loss of employment. There is no doubt, however, that the picture of the latest Labor Report is chiaroscuro, with clouds on the horizon which will hopefully soon evaporate.
