Stern (Nexumstp) on falling employment: focus on the economic development of businesses, active employment policies and training.

Paolo Stern, employment law expert and chairman of consulting firm Nexumstp, which assists over ten thousand Italian companies, comments on Italy’s falling rate of employment.

According to today’s Istat data on employment for December 2020, the positive trend that led to a clawback of 220,000 jobs between July and November has now petered out. The drop in employment mainly affects women, and involves both employees and the self-employed. Unemployment also saw a trend reversal by starting to rise again after four months of gradual decline, with the rate now standing at 9%. Paolo Stern, employment law expert and chairman of consulting firm Nexumstp, which assists more than ten thousand Italian companies, commented: “This is happening despite the freeze on redundancies that has been in place for about a year. The measure decided by the Italian government, which according to some political forces should be extended until the summer, has actually pushed the entire crisis onto the weakest sectors of the labour market, namely temporary workers, who have not had their contracts stabilised. The blanket ban on redundancies means that companies are unable to reorganise themselves in order to seize any small glimpse of recovery. In light of these figures, we need to focus on the economic development of businesses and active employment policies, rather than on stalling the market with wage guarantee funds and a ban on redundancies. SMEs in particular, being the backbone of the Italian economy, need a dynamic new start in order to be competitive. Employment services must direct workers towards businesses that are hiring, also by providing specific education and training. Lastly, I hope to see a decisive reform of the social security system – one that favours training schemes such as the new skills fund, instead of just subsidies that keep workers away from production and business innovation.”

NexumSTP is a professional partnership born from the merger of some of the most prestigious Italian tax and employment consultancy firms. It combines innovation and dynamism with the tradition, culture and values of professional boards and associations. NexumSTP is ranked 61st in the annual FT 1000 ranking of Europe’s fastest-growing companies, published by the Financial Times.

Diesis Group press office

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