Topic: Italy Is Held Back by 2.6 Million People Who Have Given Up on Work (Read 269 times)

In our country, the government only provides livelihood programs and employment for jobless people. They support but they don't sustain their necessities continuously so if poor people here won't work, they wouldn't survive. If a government supports those who don't want to work, they will surely just enjoy their jobless lives and would rely on the government.

sees like situation is bad everywhere. And it will worsen with every passing month. Earlier COVID and then this crisis due to oil price hikes have place the world in so much agony. People are upset but I have noticed one thing that the despite there being so many job seekers but they are not willing to work for little wages. No - not at all.

I am 100% sure that the situation is not as bad as the case here in India. Here just around 1.5% of the population pays income tax. Almost everything is subsidized (food, fuel, electricity, housing, healthcare, education.etc) by the government (either federal or state), and it is very much possible for entire families to survive despite doing any work. For non-Indians it may be difficult to believe that 1.5% of the population (derogatively called as the "salaried class") is subsidizing the remaining 98.5%, but this system has survived for many decades now.

This might be because the types of jobs the people want are not available. After the Covid-19 people discovered that they can actually work from home. One of such avenue is provided by Bitcoin and other online jobs. But when government makes policies that affect these avenues negatively it discourages the people from working. People not seeking employment might also be caused by over-reliance on government for subsidies and unemployment grants or benefits. This can actually lead to laziness among the citizen.

I was very surprised that only men work in the bank - Italians.  I didn't see the girls.  In my country, the bank branches are predominantly women.  In Italian buses, the conductors are also men.  Also, men sit at the checkouts in grocery supermarkets.  In my country this work is done predominantly by women. 
I got the impression that only men work in Italy, and women do housework.
What are the reasons for this situation?

I’m wondering why such situation could arise in Italy? May be geographic location and less flourished businesses? In any case the population does not seem to be big enough where it’s impossible to manage the countries employment. I think government can easily attract new businesses and also let their people understand they can do start ups considering job situation in the country. Definitely for individual to start a business they will need some schemes from the Government which can easily boost their current situation and bring employment. Small country, lesser population is surely easy to manage I believe.

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I checked the rates: only 5 to 30% income tax? That's less than even the lowest tax bracket we have!

In italy we've a serious problem with grants. Like UK, if people takes it, they aren't incentived to find a job. Also we've another problem, I'm Italian and I can explain to you better:

- Many people accepts grants and doesn't go to find a new job.

- Many entrepeneur offers work without any legal contract for a lower fee (between 500-800 €, and this are really poor income for a person at the end of the month)

- Government doesn't do nothing to incentive the open of new industry sector.

Those living on this country enjoys a good grants even if you are not working? In my country you can’t expect here and whether you like it or not, you have to keep looking for the job or else you will starve to death. I wonder what’s the real situation there for the workers, since if there’s a job available for them what’s their main reason for quitting. The government should implement a more strict policy that benefits the companies and the workers, if those job don’t have legal contract then it should be addressed by the government, that can be consider as an abuse to the workers, and that workers needs the protection from the government.

In italy we've a serious problem with grants. Like UK, if people takes it, they aren't incentived to find a job. Also we've another problem, I'm Italian and I can explain to you better:

- Many people accepts grants and doesn't go to find a new job.

- Many entrepeneur offers work without any legal contract for a lower fee (between 500-800 €, and this are really poor income for a person at the end of the month)

- Government doesn't do nothing to incentive the open of new industry sector.

Exactly. It may not be the best for the country's economy, but as an individual, I'd love to have the (financial) freedom to only do what I really want.

It's not just Italy. All southern European countries have big numbers of unemployed people, who aren't actively seeking a job. Spain and Greece also have this problem. I'm not sure about Portugal or the Balkan countries, though.

Adapting to the shifting labor market is a challenge for Beatrice Tarantino. She has struggled to find a job since losing hers at an insurance company in Rome during redundancies in 2018. Currently helping a friend with childcare, she plans to return to the fray of seeking work later this year.

“After the pandemic struck, it got harder to look for a job,” the 49-year-old said. “Now I’m starting to feel too old to find one.”

Yep this is exactly my point. If companies want workers, they need to be more proactive in hiring and participating in areas of society where they'll find those workers..

I know of places like hobby shops (eg book stores) and pubs that have often asked their more regular customers if they'd like an interview/job with them. I think there are equally a lot of people that work in shops in the UK who work there because they actually enjoy what they do (eg seeing new people every day and having interactions with them) - I use cashiers as an example because they're probably one of the lowest paid jobs everywhere.

I heard of a stereotype from Eastern Europeans that Germany is where you go if you want a lot of money but want to continuously work and the UK/nordics are where you go if you want a good amount of money but a stronger work life balance.

I wonder if this would actually be undone by improving the living and working conditions in Eastern and Southern Europe.

The numbers are stark: 2.62 million people are available for employment but not seeking it, more than the actual tally of jobseekers.

“This points to a problem that goes beyond the usual issues of matching supply and demand, and skills. It’s a problem of mindset.”

He says young people find it hard to enter the workforce after studying in Italy and need better-honed training that makes them nimbler at a time of faster-evolving employment requirements and lengthening lifespans.

Encouraging people to enter or return to the labor market is fundamental. The alternative, as Visco suggested, is that the country’s best and brightest emigrate, as almost 1 million already have done, while others do nothing.

Visco also highlighted how the country stands out for the low proportion of women in the workforce, exacerbated by the difficulty of regaining employment after having children.

Do you mean to say these idle labor force could be enticed to work and be productive by presenting available jobs that they are really interested of having?

I'm a little envious at this kind of people. They have the luxury to be picky when it comes to job. They could choose not to work if they don't like the job. Where I am, even college graduates end up working as store cashiers for lack of better opportunities.

While in Northern European countries the state tries to enable the individual to do better. Free university, high mobility of the population, strong property rights, strong minimum wages, better economic incentives, the state protects their industries instead of working against them. Northern Europe is for sure no paradise, but much better in this regard.

And the result of that is that the people in the south stop trying or move to other places like Germany and thrive there.

I think the problem is worsened when a country provides for a huge social grant to assist unemployed people. I have talked to some people in the UK and they said the financial support in the UK for unemployed people are too much. A lot of people stopped looking for work, because the government support is enough to sustain them. 

It's not just Italy. All southern European countries have big numbers of unemployed people, who aren't actively seeking a job. Spain and Greece also have this problem. I'm not sure about Portugal or the Balkan countries, though.
This is what you get, when you combine a generous "welfare state" and not-so-attractive minimum wages. Many people don't find a valid reason to get a job and waste their lives working hard for a minimum wage(while staying poor).
Southern European culture adds something to the situation. Being hardworking and discipline isn't cherished in the South. The people prefer having a good time, rather than wasting too much energy on dumb activities like working in a 9/5 job.

I'm a little envious at this kind of people. They have the luxury to be picky when it comes to job. They could choose not to work if they don't like the job.

Here just around 1.5% of the population pays income tax.

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Southern European culture adds something to the situation. Being hardworking and discipline isn't cherished in the South. The people prefer having a good time, rather than wasting too much energy on dumb activities like working in a 9/5 job.

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A lot of these issues could probably be fixed by making jobs actually seem more attractive to workers they want them to be filled by.

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In a litany of woes Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco listed this week, the sheer number of his fellow citizens who don’t bother seeking work was especially bleak.

The proportion of people active in the labor market is among the lowest in Europe, he complained to the country’s economic elite gathered in the gold-painted Shareholders’ Hall of Palazzo Koch, his institution’s home in Rome. Worst affected is the poorer south of Italy, where the governor hails from.

The labor market was only one of many weaknesses Visco highlighted in his annual speech on Tuesday. It may prove among the trickiest for the European Union to fix as it deploys skills-focused programs in its bid to reinvigorate Italy with 200 billion euros ($214 billion) of Recovery Fund cash.

Unlocking the jobs potential trapped in the inertia of the euro zone’s third-biggest economy is one of the few options available to fight the consequences of a demographic decline so stark that the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has warned the country risks having no people left.

“Overcoming the factors that hinder productivity growth has become even more necessary” given the population outlook, Visco said. It “can only partly be countered by an improvement in the migration balance and by an increase in the labor-market participation.”

The numbers are stark: 2.62 million people are available for employment but not seeking it, more than the actual tally of jobseekers. On top of that are 872,000 part-time workers who would like more hours, and 90,000 people who want a job but aren’t immediately available, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Eurostat data.

“It makes me really sad to see these numbers,” said Andrea Prencipe, professor of innovation management and rector of Luiss University in Rome. “This points to a problem that goes beyond the usual issues of matching supply and demand, and skills. It’s a problem of mindset.”

As with many of Italy’s economic problems, the south suffers the most. Last year, when a measure of national unemployment averaged 9.5%, it was almost 24% in the area of Naples, where the 72-year-old Visco was born. The country’s third-biggest city, it is often seen as a proxy for the malaise and organized crime associated with that half of the peninsula.

Further east in Isernia, a landlocked province where the governor’s family comes from in the mountainous region of Molise, joblessness exceeded 12%.

Visco also highlighted how the country stands out for the low proportion of women in the workforce, exacerbated by the difficulty of regaining employment after having children.

But at the root of the problem is schooling. Low labor participation is “closely connected with educational attainment,” the governor said. It’s a commonly shared view. 

“We have a low-skilled labor force,” Italy Finance Ministry Deputy Secretary Maria Cecilia Guerra lamented on Rainews24 on Wednesday. “This has a big impact on our growth prospects.”

That isn’t easy to fix. Prencipe, the Luiss professor, says that simply throwing money at the problem won’t address it, even though the EU Recovery Fund does have initiatives devoted to skills and education. 

He says young people find it hard to enter the workforce after studying in Italy and need better-honed training that makes them nimbler at a time of faster-evolving employment requirements and lengthening lifespans.

Adapting to the shifting labor market is a challenge for Beatrice Tarantino. She has struggled to find a job since losing hers at an insurance company in Rome during redundancies in 2018. Currently helping a friend with childcare, she plans to return to the fray of seeking work later this year.

“After the pandemic struck, it got harder to look for a job,” the 49-year-old said. “Now I’m starting to feel too old to find one.”

Encouraging people to enter or return to the labor market is fundamental. The alternative, as Visco suggested, is that the country’s best and brightest emigrate, as almost 1 million already have done, while others do nothing. Such a challenge puts the onus on Italy to ensure that its vast injection of EU money isn’t only spent, but spent well. 

“It’s not a matter of how much funding -- which is considerable overall -- but of how we’re going to use it,” said Prencipe. “We need it to really tackle the problems related to labor and to learning.”



https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/italy-is-held-back-by-2-6-million-people-who-have-given-up-on-work-1.1773994