(Finance) – More than 10,000 specialized technical figures to be trained and placed on the job market. That’s what he photographs research conducted by the Study Center of the “Italy District”, The project of the ELIS Consortium, promoted under the presidency of Highways for Italy and which sees the participation of 29 large companies. The need identified is concentrated in the sectors Telecommunications, Construction, Energy and utilities, Metalworking and ICT. Above all, the missing are fiber optic installers and splicers, construction site managers, technicians and software programmers and electrical installers. I am more than 5,000 positions needing to be filled in the 12 large companies who participated in the first needs analysis. Another 4,800 vacant positions are registered in related industries.
The founding companies of “Distretto Italia” are Autostrade per l’Italia, BNL BNP Paribas, Cdp, Enel, Eni, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, Poste Italiane, Open Fiber, FNM Group and Trenord and Bain & Company. In total, the 29 companies that have joined the project have around 400,000 employees in Italy. The study is the first step of the programme, which provides for the collection of the needs of specialized technical figures, to then kick off a series of orientation and training actions in collaboration with universities and higher technical institutes.
“We build the skills and design capabilities of the future – he says, in the capacity of president of the Elis semester, the managing director of Autostrade per l’Italia, Roberto Tomasi – to respond to the needs of the market and for the training of the youngest. Thanks to this study, we have mapped the demand and have laid the foundations for forming a large pool from which to draw with the aim of networking, in synergy with the world of education. Aspi, as project leader, provides useful data to create a new sample from which to start. It means setting up a model to produce work also for related industries, it means building tomorrow’s skills today. Just as the industrial world is closely linked to the territory, it must be a point of reference in schools to introduce young people to new and old jobs. A system built on the dialogue between companies, institutions, schools and universities, with the aim of creating a structural project that faces today’s problems and builds solutions for tomorrow”.
The skills map – According to the study conducted, the greatest need of the companies mapped is in the north of the country (31%), followed by the islands (12%), the center (6%) and the south (4%). 47%, on the other hand, is the demand for requirements coming from related industries throughout the national territory.
The needs of the “Italy District” – The study shows that the most requested profile is that of an operator responsible for laying fiber optic cables, which today represents 35% of open positions. More specifically, in the sector of Telecommunications (TLC), this figure represents around 85% of the profiles sought. In the sector of Buildings the profile most in demand is instead that of the site manager, with 761 open positions. In the field of Energy and Utilities about 80% of the profiles sought by companies concern operational technicians and line operators. For Mechanics, Electronics, Mechatronics and Metallurgy 70% of the open positions concern related industries, with requests registered mainly in Northern Italy. More than half of the profiles sought in these sectors concern software programmer technicians and consultants in the ICT sector (466 and 224 units respectively). In that of Transportation the demand for driver-driver profiles mainly concerns related industries (140 units). In the compartment Sales/Retail the most requested profiles are retail sales assistants (150 units). In the sector of Oil, petrochemical, power and environmental production the demand arises directly from the companies mapped and mainly concerns Northern Italy (134 units). The same goes for the Logisticswith over 75% of open positions in Northern Italy (116 units).
The Study Centre, which also made use of the contribution of the Employment Agencies adhering to the “District of Italy”, points out that in the last 15 years we have witnessed a increase in market inefficiency. In fact, higher unemployment rates do not correspond to a decrease in vacant positions. This figure, in line with the sector literature, fully describes the difficulty of companies in meeting their personnel needs. There lack of skills is confirmed as one of the main causes of this phenomenon. In fact, the study highlights a clear correlation between the results of the Invalsi tests and the rate of unemployed and discouraged people. In fact, the increase in negative test results in the various territorial contexts of the country corresponds to a higher rate of unemployment and discouragement. A. also contributes to the difficulty of finding specialized technicians widespread prejudice among young people and families against practical professions. Aspirations are rather concentrated on high school and university but are not often crowned with the achievement of a degree, if one considers that among the countries of the European Union, Italy is second to last for the rate of graduates between the ages of 25 and 34 (27% against 41% of the European average, source Eurostat).
“First of all, we want to dialogue with young people and families, to rediscover the value of these professions – he explains Pietro Cum, managing director of ELIS –. It is the value of know-how, which paves the way for self-fulfillment as professionals and creates the conditions for building one’s life project through work. There isn’t an equal professional vocation for everyone and there isn’t a path that necessarily includes the transition from high school to university. Rather, there is a need for an orientation phase to discover one’s personal project, training suited to the profiles that companies really need and a ‘good’ job offer, which makes people proud to feel part of the major transition projects that our country is implementing”.
The intervention proposal of “Distretto Italia” is divided into three lines of action. The first “Schools of Crafts” will soon start, which respond to the skills needs of the national production and industrial sector with training and job placement courses. Furthermore, a dialogue is underway with the institutions to activate a network of orientation programs spread over the territory, in collaboration with schools, universities and companies. Still on the guidance front, an information campaign will be launched aimed at young students and their families and a training program for guidance counselors working in the school system.