“In the labor market today the roles in Sicily have been reversed: young people offer jobs and companies are looking for workers. But the reality is far from satisfying these needs: companies, especially in the field of ecological and digital transition, desperately need technicians, but cannot find them. And Unioncamere estimates that this year companies in Sicily will need to hire around 260 thousand staff. For this reason, as Sicindustria we have a portal, Unlavoro, which promotes the meeting between job supply and demand and also indications to the world of training to make the preparation of young people compliant with our needs. And now with the employment consultants we have decided to create a database that favors the matching of job supply and demand”.
This was announced by Luigi Rizzolo, president of Sicindustria, speaking today in Palermo at the conference of the National Foundation for Labor Consultants. Rizzolo added: “For the renewable energy sector, our companies are urgently looking for technicians graduated from professional technical institutes and ITS, and, above all, engineers: not so much civil engineers, but electrical, electromechanical and industrial ones, and even aerospace engineers who they intervene in the management and maintenance of wind turbines. CVs should be sent to the e-mail address [email protected]”.
The president of Sicindustria, however, warned: “The database is only a first step, because it is a real fact that the young people who present themselves in companies either do not have adequate preparation, or do not have experience, and with all the staff With so many orders to complete, companies don’t have the time to train them on the job. This happens – explained Rizzolo – because the supply chain does not work: the educational programs are obsolete, there are no periods of experience in the field and, worse still, families still have the belief that their children must follow the path of classical studies, with the result that the kids either don’t find work or are forced to go outside the island. It is necessary for families to abandon this wrong idea, to understand that technical professions today ensure excellent job opportunities, and for the world of education and training to be oriented towards the urgent needs of the productive fabric”.
The regional councilor for labour, Nuccia Albano, explained that “the establishment of the labor market observatory has allowed us to obtain useful indications for improving our active labor policies to make training actions more effective and strengthen measures for entry into the job market. We have already started a first action: the opening of employment center branches in small municipalities, especially those in the mountains and far from large urban centres, which will open once a week with the aim of offering services for employment also for young people from these areas. This responds to a specific request that we received from the mayors.”
“The National Foundation for Labor Consultants – added President Vincenzo Silvestri – is active in Sicily to help institutions, businesses, and in particular Sicindustria with today’s agreement – in the selection of the professional figures sought. It is a synergy that is producing the first results and that allows Sicily to turn the page in the management of the labor market”.
The experience carried out by the labor consultants of Palermo is concrete: “With the Municipality of Palermo – reported the president Antonino Alessi – we are carrying out a project to recover the ancient professions of precision metalworking, such as turners, goldsmiths and watchmakers, because it is There is a strong demand for these now unobtainable professional figures. The objective is to offer vouchers and put the elderly who maintain the knowledge of these professions back into the field, so that they can train new recruits. The challenge is to be able to speak to young people using their language, both to offer them the opportunities they desire and to convince them that these professions can also guarantee a future”.
Sebastiano Cappuccio, general secretary of the CISL Sicily, has once again asked that the regional government convene the social partners for a discussion on the programming of the “Pnrr” funds and the cohesion policies: “We have the analyzes – said Cappuccio – and we are in able to say what young people and businesses are asking for. We need to address the job emergency by putting together all the resources and planning and using them with sharing and responsibility based on what is needed, such as digital and green, telling young people where they can fit in instead of going away”.
Luisella Lionti, general secretary of Uil Sicily, underlined that “training is fundamental to prepare young people for the world of work, to recover those who leave school or do not go to university, for the reintegration of professional figures in changing sectors. Today’s initiative by the employment consultants is a first moment of listening and discussion. The problem of the demographic winter in Sicily must be addressed by helping families and young people who want a qualified job based on what they have studied, yes with the flexibility that companies ask for, but also with continuous contracts and decent wages”.
The national president of the employment consultants, Rosario De Luca, concluded: “There is a misalignment between the training offer and the job market, which results in the unemployability of over 40% of graduates. On the one hand we need to intervene on the university training offer because today we know that there are some faculties that do not guarantee a job opportunity, without neglecting the technical institutes to seize the enormous opportunity of transitions; on the other hand, young people need to actively engage in continuously adapting their skills and looking for a job, as required by Article 4 of the Constitution, without giving in to the temptation of living on public subsidies”.
