It is difficult to find qualified workers, and it is also difficult to find workers in general. Baby boomers are retiring in greater numbers than those who replace them: a phenomenon that will tend to increase over the years, given that fewer and fewer children are born and fewer and fewer young people are of working age.

The deficit

Therefore, few and poorly prepared to provide answers to businesses , Sardinia has a strong deficit of "talents", of the approximately 484 thousand residents between 25 and 49 years old, there are 164 thousand who do not even have a diploma, almost 34%. The situation has been dramatic for a few years now, in 2023 - the source is Confartigianato - the companies were unable to find 64,170 people (and this figure does not include, for example, healthcare professions) and by 2027 on the island they will be something like 90 thousand uncovered positions and in some sectors the mismatch (i.e. the imbalance between supply and demand) will fluctuate between 40 and 50%.

The sectors

There is a lack of workers in the sectors of commerce, tourism, services and industry; more specifically, Sardinian companies would need software designers and programmer technicians , assemblers and cablers of electrical equipment and machinery operators , designers industrialists and carpenters . Regarding restaurants , hotels and clubs, for the season that is about to open, the frantic search for all the necessary figures has already begun, from chefs to waiters; hundreds of advertisements can be found on specialized platforms and on social media.

The contracts

"The problem exists, it is widespread in all regions, and it is increasingly serious", warns the general secretary of the CGIL Fausto Durante . «The picture is getting worse, due to a combination of factors. Companies and the production system are looking for increasingly more qualified workers with high-level professional skills and abilities, but the contracts they propose and the working conditions they offer are the same as those when eighth grade was enough. In short, even when you need a computer engineer with a master's degree, he is offered a fixed term and no stability."

The trade unionist continues: «Another problem is wages , which in Italy are on average low . Therefore it is natural that a young person tends to go where he is paid well. We have many compatriots abroad, both with high qualifications and those with fewer qualifications, who stay away because they find greater opportunities." The third issue «is professional training . We have an infinite number of bodies that act in this area but the courses they organize are not at all connected to the needs of businesses. For example, they train hairdressers, beauticians, general mechanics, while there would be a need for specific specializations in each field."

According to Unioncamere-Excelsior, in the March-May quarter companies plan to call 44,270 workers to Sardinia (+6520 compared to the same period last year), but the share of "difficult to find" hires is 48.8%.

© Riproduzione riservata