The Public Administration seems to have become the cornerstone of the PNRR, the subject of a further reform (for now limited to the regulation of competitions) which, as a consequence of new measures among which the so-called digitization should be central, should achieve those results that the previous interventions – even over the space of a few decades – have not been able to achieve (if we started to make a list of qualifications and subjects it would be inevitable to ask why the therapies did not work). It is therefore interesting to observe the six-monthly report of ARAN (the representative agency of the PA as an employer), to reflect - it is always useful to do so - on the statistical data. Of the 3,2 million employed in the PA, a good number over 1 million are in the School sector, while just about 125 people work in universities, research institutions, academies and conservatories. Adding up the two numbers, we have that, overall, almost 1,3 million are employed in the knowledge sectors, equal to about 40% of the total. This suggests that a preponderant part of the resources allocated in the sector are intended for personnel.
Around 650 work in the National Health Service, around 500 in the regions, local authorities and chambers of commerce (of which just under 90.000 in the regions with special statutes): If it is the sum that makes up the total, therefore , that just over 1,1 million people (approximately 35%) are employed within the regional and autonomous system. Approximately 250 employees are located in the central administrations including ministries, national bodies, agencies and authorities. Finally, 520 people work in the Armed Forces, Police Forces and Fire Brigades. Moving on to the temporal dimension, a first general aspect is highlighted, namely that from 2009 to 2012 there was a sharp decrease in public personnel, while subsequently up to 2019 there was a substantial stabilization in the aggregate, but with significant shifts between sectors. Looking in more detail, from 2009 to 2019 there was a decrease in personnel of almost 162 thousand units equal to -4,8%.
It is a decrease that underlies - as the Report writes - extremely diversified evolutions, through which a profound restructuring of our public system has been determined. In the face of this overall evidence, a first element to underline comes from the School where a growth in personnel of almost 85 units was recorded over the decade (will there be any doubts about the continuous requests for employment by the trade unions?). Regions with special statutes (with the autonomous provinces), research bodies, independent authorities, the judiciary and the fire brigade share a growing dynamic. On the opposite side, the greatest decreases in personnel concern the system of Regions and Local Autonomies, with almost 107 fewer units, the National Health Service, with a decrease of around 44 units, Universities, Ministries, public bodies not businesses, tax agencies, the armed forces and the police forces.
The same occupational stocks just commented on can be shown – in the ARAN Report – with a different, equally interesting analytical slant, i.e. the one for professional groups or basins. The largest (homogeneous) professional group is that of professors, lecturers and educators, with just over one million people, of which about 960 school teachers. The latter figure includes the 20 teachers of the regions with special statutes, as well as the units of educational and scholastic personnel of the local authorities, who work mainly in nursery schools and kindergartens. Added to the complex are the 7 professors of academies and conservatories and the 45 university professors and researchers. Over the course of the decade, this is the group that, as a whole, has achieved the most sustained growth, with almost 100 additional units.
An equally homogeneous and very numerous professional group is that of personnel engaged in military or internal security activities (armed forces, police forces, firefighters), made up, as mentioned above, of almost 521 units. However, a constant decrease was recorded over the decade, amounting to almost 26 units. Another classic professional pool is that of medical and health professions, which includes approximately 113 medical and health managers and over 335 paramedics (the latter, mainly nurses). Compared to the total previously seen for the National Health Service, equal to 650 units, the medical staff is approximately 448 people. In 2009 this group numbered 467 units, recording an extremely significant drop, which also became visible on an operational level during the health emergency.
Strongly characterized in the professional sense, even if characterized by much smaller numbers, is the basin represented by researchers and technologists of research bodies (over 13 people) and by professionals of non-economic public bodies (1.300). We are speaking, in the first case, of personnel engaged in research activities (researchers) or of technological support to research activities (technologists), even if the widespread practices of use of this personnel (above all technologists) in managerial or managerial activities must be considered. In the second case, they are mainly lawyers of social security institutions (above all Inps and Inail) whose legal and professional status differs significantly from that of managers and other personnel. It should be noted that this is the professional group with one of the greatest percentage decreases over the course of the decade, equal to -16,4%. However, a recovery from the even lower values of 2012 is evident in the last five years.
A further grouping, also with limited numbers, is that of personnel belonging to some special careers (magistrates, diplomats and prefects), with 13 people overall: a fairly stable value over the decade. Two professional groups remain, characterized by less internal professional homogeneity, which they nonetheless constitute the heart of the bureaucratic machinei.e. the managerial staff and the remaining administrative staff. Excluding medical and health management, already considered within the grouping of medical and health professions, public managers make up a universe of almost 43 units. Within this aggregate there are, beyond the common legal qualification, highly differentiated managerial figures: the top management of the state and central bodies, managers of small and large offices, managers of local authorities of all sizes, directors of health companies, school principals (principals), contract managers, professional with managerial qualifications (e.g. the executive lawyers of local authorities).
By functional analogy, the municipal and provincial secretaries of local authorities are also included. This staff mainly performs executive functions, even if – it should be remembered – executive functions (meaning management of offices and structures) are not an exclusive prerogative of this group, being performed, to an extent that is not easily estimable, also in other professional groups. In 2009 the stocks of this professional basin amounted to almost 58 thousand units; there was therefore a decrease in the decade of about 5 thousand people, equal to minus 26%. According to the Report, this is evidence of great importance, which shows how - perhaps without the complete awareness on the part of the government authorities - a profound professional recomposition has taken place in our public bureaucratic machine. It remains to better understand which are the sectors that mainly contributed to this fall.
Finally, there is the last group, whose professional characterization is perhaps even less defined: they are personnel, mostly clerical or executive, belonging to a very wide range of trades and professions. In total, this residual grouping, which is conventionally referred to as "Administrative and technical", has more than one million people and as such constitutes the largest group. According to the Report, the centrality of this basin is quite evident, which represents the backbone of the bureaucratic machine, which - according to the ARAN - will have to support the task of implementing the PNRR.
