I have long supported the need to put work and workers back at the centre, that is
the indispensability of promoting a Renaissance phase of Italian life by placing emphasis
on Humanism, Man as the cornerstone and essential value of modern society which has the ambition to look to the future. All permeated by a managerial culture that is effective from all points of view, from the necessary economic profit to industrious general well-being.
But which May 1st will workers celebrate, with what perspective?
The data relating to 2023 processed by Ires tell us that in Friuli Venezia Giulia, excluding domestic workers and agricultural workers, the number of hirings compared to 2022 decreased by 2.6% with an effective contraction of 4,200 units. The most significant data are those from the territories of Pordenone and Udine where many manufacturing activities have suffered difficulties on foreign markets, primarily German. Another significant fact that should make us reflect is that of voluntary resignations, leaving work due to personal choice, a trend that has been constantly growing for about ten years.
Between 2021 and 2030 the working age population (15-64 years) of Friuli Venezia Giulia will be
destined to fall by over 35 thousand units (-4.8 percent). The result was developed by the CGIA Research Office which made use of the demographic forecasts drawn up by Istat and Eurostat. If we add to this demographic dynamic the effects of the energy transition and artificial intelligence, all this will also have repercussions for our businesses. There are young workers to be included in industrial companies, but they must be trained and paid adequately to include them in the production processes.
Those hoping for a reversal of the demographic trend risk being disappointed. Unfortunately, there are no measures capable of changing the sign of this phenomenon in the short term. Will resorting to foreigners resolve the situation? The repercussions are quite predictable and it is not even necessary to mention the Monfalcone case. Alongside specialist and technical training, has there at least been a necessary integration path based on knowledge and respect for our rules?
Friuli Venezia Giulia is a society with fewer young people and more elderly people, a fact which inevitably weighs on social security, health and welfare costs. We cannot deny, then, that this worrying scenario will tend to further widen the gap between the North and the South of our country since in recent decades the disparities between the North and the South of Italy have increased. Although our country benefited from 125 billion euros of EU funds for territorial cohesion between 2000 and 2020 and a good part of this money was paid to the regions of Southern Italy, the distances have, in fact, grown.
Compared to most of the main EU countries, Italy presents historical critical issues which, unfortunately, we are unable to remove: bureaucratic slowness of the PA and low quality of projects which are unable to generate significantly important impacts for the economy and the quality of life of the territories affected by these operations. This without forgetting the biblical times of realization of the said projects confirmed by the Bank of Italy which notes that compared to a median expenditure of 300 thousand euros, in our country the average time for the realization of a work is 4 years and 10 months. The design phase lasts just over 2 years (equal to 40 percent of the overall duration), the assignment of the works lasts 6 months and over 2 years are needed for execution and testing. For an investment of five million euros, however, the construction time is 11 years.
The new procurement code and the reforms that are affecting the PA will have to significantly reduce these deadlines.
According to an OECD study, the inefficiency of the PA has negative repercussions on the level of productivity of private industrial companies. From the Organization’s calculations obtained through the cross-referencing of the Bureau van Dijk’s Orbis database and Open Civitas data, it emerges that the average productivity of companies’ work is higher in the areas (Northern Italy) where the public administration is more efficient . Otherwise, where justice works worse, healthcare is “battered” and infrastructure is insufficient (mainly in Southern Italy), private companies in those regions also lose significant competitiveness.
Daniele Damele
President Federmanager Fvg
