In Italy, a million skilled workers are missing. They are the ones that companies are unable to find, not even among the two million unemployed, of whom around 800 thousand are aged between 15 and 34.

This is what emerges from a study by the CGIA of Mestre , which also highlights how from 2017 to September 2023 the percentage incidence of procurement difficulties more than doubled . And, if we look at the South-Islands geographical area, the highest peaks are recorded in Sardinia, in particular in Cagliari and Sassari, where the incidence of procurement difficulties in some cases reaches 40% , with the result that many companies they have to give up a significant portion of their orders because they don't have enough staff to fulfill the orders.

THE DATA – If six years ago only 21.5% of entrepreneurs struggled to find new staff, in last month's survey the percentage rose to 47.6%.

In the North, we read in the CGIA report, they are mainly looking for cleaners, waiters and shop assistants. In the South, bricklayers and, here too, waiters and shop assistants. Among the four geographical divisions of the country, however, the greatest difficulties are in the North-East. In Bolzano in 2022 the highest percentage incidence, 52.5%. Followed by Pordenone (52%) and Gorizia (48.8%), and then Pavia (48.3%), Trento (47.9%), Udine (47.8%), Bologna and Vicenza (47.7%) , Lecco (46.9%) and Padua (46.8%).

Although the level of unemployment in the South is on average around 15%, even in this division one new job in three risked not being filled.

The highest peaks, as mentioned, are in Cagliari (39.2%) and Sassari (39%) , preceded among the cities of Southern Italy and the Islands only by Chieti and L'Aquila with 43.6% and by Caltanissetta (40 ,5%).

THE “UNFINDABLE” WORKERS – But who are the most “unfindable” specialized workers? According to the Cgia report, at the top of the ranking are electric arc welders, general practitioners, electronics workers, telecommunications workers, plasterers (including plasterers, decorators and plasterboarders), company managers (of private schools and private healthcare facilities), engineers. Of this block, in 8 out of 10 cases the search is in vain.