In the silence of the factories and idle warehouses, the fever of the Sardinian economy is being measured. Between January and September 2025 , Sardinia recorded an 85.27% increase in hours of unemployment benefits (CIG + FIS) compared to the same period in 2024.
Translated: an average of 4.42 million authorized hours, a figure that places the Island among the regions in greatest difficulty , behind only Basilicata (+291.47%), Molise (+129.20%) and Valle d'Aosta (+114.55%).
This is a worrying sign, revealing a struggling production system, particularly in industrial areas and manufacturing districts. This is confirmed by a report by the Lavoro&Welfare association, chaired by Cesare Damiano and edited by Giancarlo Battistelli, based on INPS data on hours of redundancy payments authorized in the first nine months of the year.
In Italy, overall, the hours of redundancy payments between January and September were 429.3 million, an increase of 18.56% compared to 2024.
Over 90% of requests come from industry, particularly the mechanical and metallurgical sectors, which alone account for about half of the total hours.
The mechanical sector exceeded 199 million hours (+30.21%), followed by the metallurgical sector with 37.3 million (+25.12%).
Nationally, ordinary CIG (Cassa di Integrazione Guadagni) – which covers temporary suspensions – decreased by 4.5%, reaching 217.3 million hours, while extraordinary CIG (Cassa di Integrazione Guadagni) – linked to company crises and restructuring – grew dramatically: +61.6%, equal to 201 million hours.
According to the report's estimates, this translates into 275,000 workers on zero-hours, with an overall wage cut of over €1.3 billion net. On average, each worker lost €4,400 in income between January and September.
Compared to the rest of the country, Sardinia is among the regions that have seen the fastest growth in the use of social safety nets. The 85.27% increase is almost five times higher than the national average (+18.6%) and indicates widespread fragility.
Behind Sicily are Lazio (+72.78%) and Abruzzo (+79.42%), while the large manufacturing regions of the North (Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont, Tuscany) remain between 0 and +50%. On the other hand, positive signs are coming from the South: Puglia (-6.86%), Campania (-5.62%), Calabria (-37.61%), and Sicily (-17.20%) show a reduction in hours of CIG compared to 2024.
In Sardinia, the surge in authorized hours lies in unresolved corporate crises and an industrial fabric struggling to convert. Mechanical engineering, metallurgy, and chemicals remain the most exposed sectors, with increasing use of solidarity contracts and extraordinary redundancy payments.
