After three years of decline, 2015 marked the second year of recovery for the competitiveness of the Italian manufacturing industry with a +3,6% compared to the previous year. However, the pre-crisis levels remain far away: compared to the maximum recorded in 2007, the decline is 9%. This is indicated by the annual 'Cumulative Data' survey of 2060 Italian companies prepared by the Mediobanca Research Department which examines only the activities carried out in Italy by manufacturing, tertiary and energy companies.
Last year, the 6% increase in productivity and higher than the growth in labor costs (+2,8%) boosted competitiveness. The result was achieved as a result of job cuts (-0,6%), but also thanks to greater investments, which increased overall by 2015% in 7,9, with a +4,8% increase in manufacturing (after +4,6 2014% in 26,4) and a real boom in the tertiary sector (+19%). However, manufacturing investments remain 2008% below the peak recorded in XNUMX.
On the other hand, productivity per employee exceeds 6,5 levels by 2007% and even rises by 16% compared to 2006, while employment in manufacturing is down 6% compared to 10 years ago. Overall, it is above all the blue-collar workers who pay the bill, down by 8% between 2015 and 2008, while the thinning out of 'white-collar workers' is less (-1,4%). The decrease is greater in the public sector (-13,3% in the period for the 'blue overalls' and -4% for office workers) than in the private sector (-4% and -0,9% respectively). The crisis - explains the survey - has accelerated the productive transformation, with the progressive shift of the workforce in the upstream (planning and design) and downstream (marketing and after-sales assistance) phases, which hold greater value in terms of competitive advantage , while the transformation phases were lightened, also with their outsourcing.
On the basis of the 'Cumulative Data' survey by the Mediobanca Research Department, manufacturing has seen a heavy cut in the 'blue overalls' (-12,3% on 2008), while the employment of white collars and managers holds steady (+ 0,3%), which indeed grow in medium-sized enterprises (+9,6%), in medium-large (+4,3%), in larger groups (+3,3%) and in the Made in Italy (+5,4 .18,8%). However, foreign-controlled companies have the heaviest hand on workforce cuts, with -8,6% for blue-collar workers and -0,6% for white-collar workers. On the other hand, those who have kept their jobs benefit from an increase in the purchasing power of wages estimated at +2006% since 4,6, but the increase mainly reflects the trend in public companies (+2,9% ). However, there are also positive signs from manufacturing (+3,7%), especially in medium-sized enterprises (+6,2%) and made in Italy (+XNUMX%).
In any case, the labor cost of public companies remains more than 20% higher than private ones. However, foreign-controlled manufacturing companies also pay well (+7,4% in real terms). For the entire aggregate of the 2060 companies examined, the average labor cost between 2007 and 2015 grew by 14%, going from 47.500 to 54.200 euros. The change is also affected by the change in the mix between blue overalls and white collars. The former decreased from 43% of the total in 2006 to 41% in 2015, the latter increased by 57% to 58,9%. The public sector recorded an 18,6% increase in labor costs, higher than the private sector (+13,4%) settling at 65.800 euros against 51.700, also because it has a limited labor base (30%). The manufacturing sector rose by 16,7% to 57.200 euros, while the tertiary sector moved less (+10,4% to 46.700 euros). The average labor cost of medium-sized enterprises is lower than that of the major groups (50.800 euros against 54.500), but over time it has shown a more generous trend (+17,5% since 2007 against +11,5%), also to encourage the presence and maintenance of the best skills in the workforce.
