The development of the manufacturing sector has long been considered a necessary step to promote sustained and long-lasting economic growth. The idea comes from the fact that in the past, compared to other sectors, manufacturing activities tended to create more jobs and, also thanks to greater investments in research and development, showed higher productivity. Today, however, this prerogative seems to have diminished. A recent analysis by the International Monetary Fund highlights how in recent years the use of new technologies and the development of international trade have also allowed a significant leap forward in the productivity of some service sectors.
In the last 45 years the share of employed people in manufacturing worldwide has remained more or less stable, but its geographical distribution has changed: at the beginning of the 13s in advanced countries, one in four workers was employed in this sector, against about one in ten in emerging countries. Today in advanced economies the share has fallen to XNUMX%, more or less the same as in emerging economies, excluding China. In many of these latter countries, the maximum peak of manufacturing employment was reached in correspondence with employment values and per capita income lower than experienced in the past by current advanced economies. The fear is that this could have a negative impact on overall growth and lead to an increase in inequality in income distribution.
In Italy, the weight of manufacturing employment on the total fell from 19,9% in the pre-crisis period to 18,8% at the end of 2017. However, the contraction affected all the countries of the euro area where, on average, the weight of the sector on total employment rose from 17,4% at the beginning of 2008 to 15,7% at the end of 2017. In Germany, the number of employed people in manufacturing increased marginally (+3.800 employed) but the weight on total employment decreased by 21 to 19,2%.
The contraction in the number of employed people in manufacturing in Italy has corresponded to a recomposition in favor of the highest qualifications. According to Eurostat data, in 2008 Italian manufacturing was characterized by a weight of qualified occupations lower than the economy average: 25,9% against 40,5%. In 2017, the weight of managers, professionals and specialized technicians rose to 29,2%, while on average for the rest of the economy it fell to 36,5%.
The growth in qualified positions was recorded above all in companies with a high propensity for digital innovation. Moreover, in the same period of time productivity measured as the ratio between the added value of the sector and the hours actually worked rose by over 11%, a value not far from the German one.
