Work, integration and good flexibility in the new time of the agencies

A successful reform

The words of the manager bring back to those of Luigi Brugnaro. «The great satisfactions came when our workers who entered with a one-month contract, then confirmed for 6, became permanent, climbing the various steps, according to an idea of ​​American meritocracy. The culture of work is the true culture of democracy. Today we have to go back to the fundamentals, the role of intermediate bodies and we have to know how to discuss. I’ve always thought that friendliness between people who may even have different ideas is a symbol of civility. The Treu package in his time was truly revolutionary and brought regulations to our country that were already present abroad. Work has thus also been modernized in Italy, eradicating illegal forms of work». In his balance sheet, Professor Tiziano Treu notes that «the important thing about that labor reform is that it was successful. It is not that reforms in Italy have always been successful. This had been demonized at the beginning, then progressively it was accepted by all. In other countries there were already large multinationals providing employment services, in our country it was necessary to invent the profession and it took courage».

Bargaining

Reflecting on the debate that animated the emergence of employment agencies in Italy, the general secretary of the CISL, Luigi Sbarra, affirms that «it is wrong to equate flexibility and precariousness. We come from an experience which demonstrates that when flexibility is negotiated and is a central element of union relations, the risk of precariousness disappears. We need flexibility because we are in this epochal phase of digital, environmental, ecological, industrial, energy transition. We must focus even more decisively on governing flexibility to manage such complex phases of change: bargaining is the central element». Jumping back to the present day, Sbarra observes that «if there is one thing I appreciate about this new work package, it is that the Government is finally betting on the value of union relations, entrusting durations beyond the first 12 months of fixed-term contracts, further durations , extensions, renewals, to the negotiation. We are still paying the price for a system of excessive legislative regulation which has led to many difficulties, as the experience of the dignity decree tells us and when the law intervened heavily, neutralizing the role of the social partners”.

The new article 18 lies in training

For the future, Sbarra expects truly innovative interventions on training from the Government because «in this time, knowledge will count more than having. What has been missing in the labor reforms of the last 25 years has been the valorisation of an issue such as training: we have neglected the value and centrality of active policies. It is necessary to bring together the various actors, public employment centres, employment agencies, the school system and accredited training, giving the company a central role in calibrating training on the basis of real needs. The real new article 18 is called training and it is on this that the Government is called to give an answer. In the Pnrr we have over 5 billion to spend on employment services, the dual system and the fund for new skills. Let’s put together the best experiences, I am convinced that we can bring about a turning point». However, the first turning point to be made, as Durigon also admits, is on the front of databases and digitization: «We don’t have a single information system and this is an issue that needs to be resolved. Employment agencies can do a lot, but they must be enabled to do so. In Italy we work in watertight compartments and this, in 2023, is not good. Employment agencies have a very important penetration and a placement rate of workers which is ten times higher than that of employment centres». Speaking of training, the managing director of Umana, Giuseppe Venier observes that “the employment agencies pay 4% for training, 13 times more than the other companies which pay 0.30%”.

Young people

In the sixteenth-century hall of Misericordia that Umana has brought back to its former glory, for many years the rumble of basketballs was also heard (it was here that Umana Reyer Venezia played) which attracted many thousands of young people. Young people who, says Caprioglio, « have a language, dreams and new codes to communicate that are little known to us. We always talk about it using old parameters, forgetting that we are in a new time. What allows us to approach young people is to look forward. It is essential to find the right tools to explain to young people that values ​​such as legality and freedom are compasses. But questions are needed. Today, one click is enough to find the answers, but we have a responsibility to teach young people to ask questions. To do this, it is essential to hear the voices of those who are social actors. You have to know how to listen. Listening to different people, with different experiences. It will then be up to us to summarize. First of all, we are concerned with understanding and responding to the needs of companies».

Integration and people at the centre

The president of Umana recalls that in 1998, «in unsuspecting times, our claim was to put people at the centre. This new time leads us to look for new solutions but always placing people at the centre. We live in a talent shortage partly related to demographics, partly related to skills. In this time it is our duty to integrate people, to dialogue with the foreigners present in our country – says Caprioglio -. Work-related immigration is a theme that will be central. In this we propose ourselves as protagonists because we have the ability to identify and create skills. But we need the Government to understand the role it can play in this match».