In a decade, Italy has lost a fifth of youth businesses. The 137 under-35 companies registered at the end of 2021 are 20% fewer than in 2012 and represent 8,9% of the national production fabric. At the end of 2012, however, they were 11,1%. This reduction is more consistent in some regions (Marche, Abruzzo e Toscana), where it hovers around 30%, but extends in double-digit variations across the country, except the Trentino Alto Adige, where businesses led by young people instead grew by 6,5%. It is one of the considerations brought to the conference "The future of work", organized as part of the Rimini Meeting, by the general secretary of Unioncamere, Joseph Tripoli.
These figures should ring alarm bells, the secretary-general said. “Italy has also built its economic strength on the number of businesses, especially small ones. The reduction of the youth entrepreneurial base will soon produce its effects also on the overall economic values of the country if not contrasted with effective policies starting from the school years".
Declining youth businesses, the causes: demographic crisis and brain drain
But why this decline? Accomplice the demographic crisis in our country, which seems to have embarked on a slow but inexorable erosion of the number of youth businesses in our country. Tripoli, recalls the Istat forecasts, according to which in 30 years (between 2020 and 2050) there will be 5,5 million fewer Italians. In addition, to also weigh the Brain drain: in 2019, 170 Italians went abroad and more than half – 90 – were young. And this means that fewer and fewer young people enter the job market.
Fewer and fewer young people start a company in traditional sectors
Finally, as Unioncamere-InfoCamere's elaborations show, for a smaller number of young people than 10 years ago, starting a company in some traditional sectors is seen as an opportunity to build a work and life project (for example, young manufacturing companies are decreased by 33%) also due to the administrative difficulties associated with starting up the business.
However, participation in the world of innovative startups is growing
However, there is an interesting fact to point out, recalled the general secretary of Unioncamere: the consistent participation of young people in the world of innovative startups. Out of almost 14 innovative start-ups, 15,7% were created by young people, with an incidence that is almost 7 percentage points higher than that which the youth component has on the total companies.
The under 35s, in general, seem to have focused in recent years on certain sectors of knowledge, including business services, design studios, the world of advertising, research and development activities and education.
