In the 15 years of activity of FondItaliaSicily has positioned itself among the Italian regions where attention to continuous training of workers was undertaken by local companies with perseverance and participation. They are, in fact, over 65 thousand Sicilian workers have joined FondItalia. An activity that began in July 2009 – the first month in which it was possible to join the Fund – which today has materialized for 13,229 companies. In percentages, 7% of workers and 9% of companies participating in the Fund promoted by UGL and FederTerziario they are found in Sicily. This confirms the region as one of the most virtuous, being in fourth place behind Puglia, Campania and Lombardy.
FondItalia 2024 report presented in Sicily
The data emerged from the edition 2024 of the FondItalia report. It is published every two years by the Fund to track the progress of continuing education in our country. The report was presented in the Mattarella Room of the Ars in Parliament Square in Palermo during the fourth stage of the roadshow organized by the Fund to meet the territories and shed light on the progress of training of companies and workers in Italy. Since 2010, the year in which the first FondItalia help desk for the financing of continuous training was activated, just over 12% of the companies and 36% of the Sicilian workers participating in the Fund have benefited from the training resources made available by FondItalia . A total of almost 12 million euros. The province that benefited most from the contributions was that of Ragusa (28%). Followed by that of Palermo (23%) and that of Catania (16%).
In Sicily many micro-businesses join FondItalia
In detail, the 93% of the Sicilian companies that have joined FondItalia are “micro-enterprises”. These are companies with fewer than nine employees (for a total of over 36 thousand workers). 6% are small businesses with a number of employees between 10 and 49 professional units (for a total of over 16 thousand employees). The most represented province is that of Palermo with 35% of businesses and 33% of workers. Followed by the province of Catania (17% of businesses and 19% of workers) and that of Ragusa (11% of businesses and 11% of workers). Trade (27%), buildings (14%), accommodation and catering services (12%) e agriculture and fishing (9%) the sectors most represented by participating companies.
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Value of human capital and competitiveness
“The transitions we are experiencing force companies to adapt their skills human capital – underlined the Director of the Egidio Sangue Fund -. If this does not happen there will be a decline in competitiveness with consequent loss of jobs and marginalization of the territories. In an aging society, the human capital we have available today is precious and invaluable and must be enhanced with investment in skills. 50% of the micro and small businesses participating in FondItalia are involved in training activities – continued Sangue -. This makes us proud and makes us optimistic. For some time now, one of FondItalia’s proposals has been to include students in funded training courses entrepreneursbecause they are the ones who guide the companies and the workers and as such they must be able to be constantly updated”.
