“There is enormous concern about the uncertainty regarding the confirmation of the decontribution for employers in the Southern regions, which expires on June 30th. Last May, Minister Raffaele Fitto announced the executive’s difficulty in reconfirming the measure for the second half of the year, but assurances were subsequently received that a solution would be found to avoid the impasse. There is no longer much time: an extension is urgently needed and is among the most appreciated and used: failure to be reconfirmed for the current year would have enormous consequences on the financial balance of the companies and on the employment of the territories involved, also because it cannot be replaced by the Zes Bonus, whose group of beneficiaries is too small”.
Thus Vincenzo Schiavo, national vice-president of Confesercenti with responsibility for southern policies (and president of Confesercenti Campania). “The contribution exemption – which for 2024 was expected to be 30% of the costs borne by the employer – was introduced by law 178/2020 and consists of a relief on social security contributions for all employees of companies located in the southern regions with limits of up to 2 million euros. In the last extension, a reduction in contributions was foreseen on a decreasing scale until 2029, with an exemption equal to 30% of the social security contribution paid by the employer until December 2025, 20% for the years 2026 and 2027 and 10 % for the last two years. The objective of the intervention was to support the economically weakest companies affected by the economic disruptions resulting from the various crises that have occurred in recent years. Critical issues, in our opinion, which have not yet been overcome: we therefore believe an extension of the provision is necessary. While we consider the possibility of replacing it with the Zes Bonus which only concerns companies that hire workers over 35 who have been unemployed for at least 24 months from 1 September 2024 to 31 December 2025 unacceptable: a truly too small number of beneficiaries”.
