What Is The Giant Problem Italy Is Confronting Right Now?

Of the many questions concerning jobs, work or work-related issues, perhaps one that poses a particularly grim picture is whether there are still jobs available but not those who wish to do them.

Ever heard of or run into such a scenario before?

Truth be told, at this point in time, Italy faces a rather stark work-related gaffe. And just what is it? Well, unbelievable as it may sound, it is true that no fewer than 2.6 million people in Italy have sort of given up on work.

Funnily unbelievable as this may sound, you simply cannot help but cast your mind toward an Italian saying that goes something like this:

“Nessuna Nuova, Buona Nuova!”

The exact Italian to English translation of the above is the following:

No news is good news!

Hence, in the light of what is happening to a country much revered for contributing to the world’s distinct culinary taste, it must be said that the saying makes perfect sense particularly from the standpoint of the scuffle Italy faces in the job market.

Because what is happening in Italy is nothing shy than an unmitigated disaster; something the Mario Draghi-led nation may never have thought about.

It is strange sort of situation where the number of people in Italy who have actually held themselves back from work is far more than the actual number of job seekers!

So, what does this imply?

Well, it simply means that the proportion of people who are active in the Italian labour market measures to be the lowest in all of Europe.

Interestingly, the existing labour market problem seems stymied by a real life scenario that isn’t helping Italy’s case one bit. So what is it?

Many economists, researchers and even eminent figures such as Elon Musk have warned that what Italy faces, particularly in the course of its future, a rather blaring problem, one that relates to the dangers of population collapse.

By the year 2070, it has already been established, the Italian population may drop by as much as 70 percent.

Could all of this have something to do with the number of people that are presently available to take up key places in the troubled labour market?

Having said the above, what truly paints a troubling picture about a country that is famously recognized as an epicentre of car production, one that also mass produces citrus fruits is the following ( the excerpts are taken from Bloomberg):

The numbers are stark: 2.62 million people are available for employment but not seeking it, more than the actual tally of jobseekers. On top of that are 872,000 part-time workers who would like more hours, and 90,000 people who want a job but aren’t immediately available, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Eurostat data.

As with many of Italy’s economic problems, the south suffers the most. Last year, when a measure of national unemployment averaged 9.5%, it was almost 24% in the area of Naples, where the 72-year-old Visco was born. The country’s third-biggest city, it is often seen as a proxy for the malaise and organized crime associated with that half of the peninsula. 

Further east in Isernia, a landlocked province where the governor’s family comes from in the mountainous region of Molise, joblessness exceeded 12%.

Visco also highlighted how the country stands out for the low proportion of women in the workforce, exacerbated by the difficulty of regaining employment after having children.