The diffusion of smart working in Italy is growing, even if not yet enough. According to the Observatory of the Milan Polytechnic, "agile work" is now a reality in 58% of large companies, but only in 12% of SMEs. But it is above all the results it brings, where it is used, that make a difference: 76% of smart workers – i.e. those employees who enjoy flexibility and autonomy in choosing the time and place of work, having digital tools for working on the move – he is satisfied with his work, against 55% of other employees. And one out of three is fully involved in the reality in which they work, compared to 21% of those who work in the traditional way.
In 2018, this category of workers reached 570 in Italy (the estimate is based on the survey of a sample of 1000 workers representative of the population of office workers, managers and executives who work in organizations with at least 10 employees), up by 20% compared to 2018. According to the Milan Polytechnic the most significant growth is recorded among the Public Administrations: structured smart working projects double in one year in the public sector (going from 8% to 16%), 7% of the PAs have activated informal initiatives (1% in 2018), 6% will start them in the coming twelve months. The most advanced are the large PAs, which in 42% of cases have already introduced structured initiatives and in 7% have activated informal initiatives. Despite these encouraging data, the delay remains evident, with almost 4 out of 10 PAs that do not have smart working projects and are uncertain (31%) or even disinterested (7%) in its introduction.
As far as large companies are concerned, in addition to the 58% of them that already practice it, 7% of companies that have already activated informal initiatives and 5% that plan to do so in the next twelve months must be added. Of the remaining 30%, 22% declare the future introduction probable e only 8% don't know if they will introduce it or show no interest. The diffusion of smart working among SMEs is also behind but growing: structured projects go from 8% last year to 12% today, informal ones from 16% to 18%, but the percentage of disinterested companies is also increasing alarmingly to the topic (from 38% to 51%).
According to the organizations, the main benefits seen from the adoption of smart working are the improved work-life balance (46%) and the growth of employee motivation and engagement (35%). But according to the managers, the management of smart workers also presents some critical issues, in particular the difficulties in managing emergencies (for 34% of managers), in using technologies (32%) and in planning activities (26%), even if 46% of managers declare that they have not encountered any critical issues. If smart workers are questioned, however, the first difficulty to emerge is the perception of isolation (35%), then external distractions (21%), communication and virtual collaboration problems (11%) and the technological barrier (11 %).
“Smart working – he highlighted Mariano Corso, Scientific Director of the Smart Working Observatory – it's not just a trend, it's a change that responds to the needs of people, organizations and society as a whole, and as such it's an unstoppable phenomenon. However, the dynamics with which our country is growing is not fast enough. In reality important for the economy of our country system such as PMI and PA, the diffusion of Smart Working is not yet sufficient. This limits the scope of the contribution that Smart Working can make to make the labor market more modern, businesses and public administrations more competitive and attractive and our cities more inclusive and sustainable. For the PAs in particular, a rapid change of pace is needed above all in order not to miss the opportunity to improve the motivation of their people and to attract new talent, especially in relation to the need to replace around 15% of personnel in the next 3-4 years".
On the occasion of the conference, the “Smart Working Award” 2019, the recognition of the Observatory to companies that have distinguished themselves for their ability to innovate working methods thanks to their Smart Working projects.
They win the "Smart Working Award 2019" among large companies Europ Assistance for the project "EA Smart Working", Royal Mutual for the initiativeBe Smart", Saipem for the initiativeFlexAbility", Sky Italy for the project "Open Working”; rewarded MailUp among SMEs e Emilia Romagna region among public administrations, with a special mention for Liguria region.
