Stern (Nexumstp): scenarios and solutions for the labour market in the light of Istat employment data

Paolo Stern, employment law expert and president of consulting firm Nexumstp, commented on Istat unemployment data from March 2021, highlighting the significant impact of the crisis in the tourism industry. The suggested solutions included the strengthening of active policies and protections for those who lose their jobs, the unblocking of fixed-term contracts, and structural changes to the social safety net. Remote working and investments in sustainability will be key to the future of employment.

Employment figures from March 2021, published today by Istat, indicate that the job market is hopefully about to see a re-opening in most areas of industry, while waiting for EU economic support. The most striking element to emerge from the data is the overall drop in the number of employed people compared to a year ago: with almost 900,000 fewer people in work, the employment rate has dropped by 2 percentage points. This drop was recorded during the redundancy freeze, meaning that those who were most affected were temporary workers who did not have their contracts extended or renewed, and the self-employed. The results show that employment fell across every population group, but the drop was most marked among fixed-term employees (-9.4%), the self-employed (-6.6%) and younger workers (-6.5% among the under-35s). The crisis in the tourism sector has certainly had a critical impact on the drop in employment. The labour market is now anxiously awaiting the end of the redundancy freeze, as it could lead to a further decline in the numbers. There is talk of a possible 600,000 redundancies. What can be done? What has not, unfortunately, been done in recent years. Active policies and protections for those who lose their jobs must be strengthened, the Dignity Decree must be left behind in order to clear the way for fixed-term contracts, the many unusable employment benefits – which exist only on paper due to the objective difficulty in applying them – must be scrapped, and a structural change in the social safety net must be implemented. SMEs will play a key role in the recovery, but their integration and network contracts must be supported in order to foster competition, including on foreign markets. Remote working will be a defining element in identifying the most innovative companies, and business owners must also be supported through this paradigm shift to avoid being driven out of the market. Last but not least, investment in sustainability and social inclusion must be linked to support for business competitiveness. Companies that focus on playing by the rules and on social responsibility, and those that stay away from social dumping must receive tangible recognition in terms of tenders, supply contracts and future incentives.

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
Giorgio Tedeschi – Valentina Colombo
Tel 02 626931 – nexumstp@diesis.it

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