Luino, training as an antidote to the exodus in Switzerland

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Few, already at the start. And in any case difficult to retain given the obvious advantages of working across the border. For the entrepreneurs of the upper Varese area, the Luino area, the competition from Switzerland is an additional problem, which fits into a global framework already experienced elsewhere, with demographic decline and limited enthusiasm for technical-scientific skills to widen the gap between supply and demand.

However, economic convenience also weighs in this area: setting the net salary received as a worker at 100, this figure costs 129 euros for a Swiss company, 187 for an Italian company.

Estimates made by Confindustria Varese, which sees this aspect as one of the nodes for local entrepreneurs. So much so as to start an autonomous training initiative, to try at least in part to reduce the gap between supply and demand.

«We know – comments the President of Confindustria Varese, Roberto Grassi – how complicated it is to retain and retain people in the face of the attractive force of Switzerland. Socially responsible businesses, however, are the ones that get involved to develop know-how and give young people chances, whatever the stakes may be. For this reason, we have been working for months with a group of companies on the opening of a one-year IFTS post-diploma specialization course in robotics and automation in the Luino area. This is to meet the needs that have emerged from companies in the north of the province, which are increasingly finding it difficult to find human resources capable of helping them deal with the ongoing technological transitions, as well as growth processes”.

In the first instance, a group of 12-15 young people will be immediately hired in companies and then trained thanks to this initiative, created by Confindustria Varese together with the ITS Incom Foundation. Among the main drivers of the training project, which already sees the involvement of a dozen of companies in the area, there is the Spm of Brissago Valtravaglia, active in plastic and mechanical manufacturing for car components (coats of arms and logos) and in sports equipment for winter sports (poles, nets, etc.).