Italians have the highest median age in Europe – around 48 years old, indicating that the country’s population is ageing. Due to this phenomenon, the country can be dealing with a labour shortage as the age of the working population might also be threatened.
According to the IDOS Study and Research Centre, Italy will need more than 280,000 new arrivals over the next 27 years in order to make up for the decline in the working-age population, which is expected to decrease by 7.8 million people.
The closure towards migrants has actually blocked entry pathways for workers over the past 12 years, which prompted a labour shortage in the country. In general, 452,000 foreign workers are expected to be admitted in Italy, with 136,000 of those being admitted in 2023 alone, while this number can increase to 151,000 in the following year and 165,000 in 2025.
IDOS also noted that the government last month approved a new programming document for legal entry of foreign workers between 2023-2025, which is 18 years after the last three-year program was approved back in 2004.
According to the same, the measure, which was pushed by employers, was improved due to employers struggling with a serious labour shortage in the last 12 years, and the economy’s needs remained at around 833,000 workers for the same three-year period. More specifically, 274,800 for 2023, 277,600 for 2024 and 280,600 for 2025.
The current legislation sets the rules for foreign workers who must be recruited while living abroad. Three in four foreign workers in Italy are employed by small to medium-sized companies, often family businesses, indicating that there is a relationship of trust needed to hire someone.
In 2002, the Bossi-Fini law discontinued entry permits for those seeking employment, thanks to which an immigrant could legally stay in the country for a year. This led to the use of entry quotas to help migrants who are already employed in Italy, which led to masked regularisations, as the research revealed.
However, the life quality of migrant workers in Italy can be improved as foreign workers often have unstable, tiring and underpaid jobs that are even unsafe for their health. Nearly two foreign workers in three are low-skilled — twice the rate of Italians. This type of employment is also reflected in salaries that are about one-quarter lower than the national average.
