The government plans to change course on employment policies: no hiring bonus, now we need to focus on productivity. The latest Istat data certify that employment in our country is declining, a sign that the incentives for companies on permanent contracts have exhausted their effect. The companies that were supposed to stabilize the temporary workers have now done so.
In the context of a general slowdown in the economy – with GDP slowing down, consumption uncertain, prices and wages at stake – in recent months employers have begun again to enter into short- and very-short-term contracts, as it demonstrates the surge in vouchers. After all, the turnaround was predictable, given that the tax benefits of the hiring bonus have been halved this year.
Originally, the government planned to continue with the same policy in the next few years, gradually reducing the discounts. But the current situation suggests that, in order to avoid a new stagnation in the labor market, a new steering is required.
According to what La Repubblica writes, the government intends to stop incentives, which, moreover, will weigh on the State coffers for about 17 billion euros over a total of seven years.
Instead of the hiring bonus, the executive intends to bet on productivity, which has been standing still in our country for over twenty years. A two-step strategy is being thought of. First of all, the 2017 Stability Law should contain the increase in the tax relief on company performance bonuses. Secondly, and this will probably be the most critical step, the government could force the hand of Confindustria and the trade unions on the reform of the bargaining, unless the social partners are able to unblock the negotiation. The intervention, which could arrive in Parliament in January, should operate only at the company level, without affecting either the national or the territorial contract.
