What are the most popular jobs in Italy? The world of work has undergone profound changes in recent years. With the globalization of markets, many traditional jobs have disappeared and labour has been replaced by new technologies. Italy is one of the European countries most in difficulty in this transition; the main causes are unemployment and the phenomenon of the 'brain drain' (which we will go into in more detail in the next section). The main causes are unemployment and the 'brain drain' phenomenon (which we will discuss in more detail in the following article).
Let's take a look at the main data characterising the labour scenario in Italy.

Where is the demand highest?
According to an estimate by LinkedIn (Jobs on the Rise) the most requested roles in Italy are: teachers, doctors and nurses, digital marketing experts and creative freelancers. In recent years, in our country we are witnessing a well-known phenomenon: the division between the old and the new - the traditional job and the job of the future. Many jobs are saturated and end up creating unemployment, while others are in need of recruitment but are undesirable.
Despite this, some traditional jobs remain at the top of the list for highest annual salary. Some of these are: notary (265.000 euros); doctor (75.000 euros) and airline pilot (74.400 euros). (data: Il Giorno)
As far as the general picture of annual pay (RGA) is concerned, the average in Italy is estimated at 30.000 euros. According to a report by JobPricing, among the Italian regions with the highest gross salary in the country is Lombardy, while the lowest is in Sardinia. The annual average in Lombardy is 31.400 euros, slightly higher than in Trentino-Alto Adige.
Unemployment in Italy
The last two years, characterised by the Covid-19 epidemic, have put Italian companies and workers to the test. Companies have had to implement changes in marketing strategies and adapt to today's new landscape.
The bulletin of the Excelsior Information System (developed with Unioncamere) sees the hiring of 1,4 million workers by Italian companies between December 2021 and February 2022. We can see that the data predicts a 28% growth compared to the same quarter of 2019, before the pandemic began. The most in-demand roles are: skilled workers (+20.000 hires compared to December 2019); plant operators and fixed and mobile machinery workers (+15.000); and technicians (+5.000).
However, there is still the unemployment figure, which in Italy in 2021 is 9.9%, an increase over the previous year (data: General Confederation of Italian Industry). An estimate by the European Commission shows that the Italian unemployment rate (around 9%) is the fourth highest among the members of the European Union. It is followed by Spain, Greece and Lithuania. Moreover, Italy has the largest share of young people without education or training (NEETs) and the highest share of economically inactive people.

What is the "fuga dei cervelli"?
As pointed out above, the "fuga dei cervelli" phenomenon is also holding back the development of Italian industry. - in English "human capital flight". The brain drain is possible thanks to globalization, whereby it is increasingly easy to travel the world and expand one's knowledge in another country. Many young people (aged between 18 and 34), in fact, decide to leave their country to pursue their education or work in another country. In its Report on the University System 2021, the Corte dei Conti reported a 41,8% increase in transfers abroad for work (from 2013 to date).
Italy is actually the only European country to have a negative balance between outgoing and incoming researchers: it is -13%. Consequently, as long as competent young people 'flee' abroad, the unemployment rate in Italy will remain high. Despite the negative aspects, the changes brought about by the coronavirus have allowed the emergence of new forms of work, such as smart working or hybrid work.
With the need to work from home, companies have updated themselves by creating new work paths increasingly in line with new digital technologies. According to a forecast by Cedefop, between 2021 and 2030 the main job sectors in Italy are expected to grow by about 157 thousand jobs, helping the country to have a continuous improvement in the world of work.
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