In recent years the corporate welfare has breached the Italian small and micro enterprises. Among the former (10-50 employees), those active in at least six service areas have more than doubled in three years, going from 11% in 2016 to 24,8% today. Among companies with fewer than 10 employees, however, the share has grown from 6,8% in 2017 to the current 12,2%. The increase – largely due to the tax incentives introduced with the latest budget maneuvers – remains the most significant of the medium-sized enterprises (51-250 employees), which went from 20,8% in 2016 to 45,3% today. The data is contained in the 2019 edition of the Welfare Index Pmi report, promoted by Generali Italia with the participation of Confindustria, Confagricoltura, Confartigianato and Confprofessioni. The analysis, presented today in Rome, is based on a series of interviews with 4.561 Italian SMEs, all with fewer than XNUMX employees.
In general, the study shows that companies considered "very active" in corporate welfare (i.e. with initiatives in at least 6 out of 12 areas of intervention) have almost tripled in three years, going from 7,2% in 2016 to 19,6% in 2019. The real leap occurred in the last year, with growth of very active companies from 14,4 to 19,6% (+36%).
As regards the sectors of intervention, just under half of Italian SMEs (45,7%) are active in the health and assistance sector. “The sector of complementary healthcare it includes the various forms of support for household health care costs – reads the report – and it is the one on which the initiative of companies converges the most. Currently, 38,6% of SMEs have activated these initiatives, up from 35,7% in 2018 and 29,2% in 2017". The most used tools are confirmed category health funds, to which 25,6% of companies adhere.
The initiatives in the macro-area of family-work reconciliation and work facilities they are practiced by 59,2% of small and medium enterprises. In this context, the benefits most often granted to workers concern organizational flexibility (including telework and smart working), which today is guaranteed by 36% of companies, against 16% in 2016.
On the other hand, the SMEs that offer initiatives for health stop at 43,9%. worker training , social mobility of young people. However, this sector is one of those in which SMEs intend to invest more in the coming years (as stated by 42,6% of companies). To date, the reimbursement of tuition fees and tuition fees it is the most widespread support (1,5% for kindergartens, 2% for primary and secondary schools, 1,3% for universities).
“Welfare is successful if it is a coherent and strategic business project, which starts from listening to employees – he comments Marco Sesana, country manager and CEO of Generali Italia and Global Business Lines – In four years with the Welfare Index Pmi we have listened to the entrepreneurs of our country with 15 thousand interviews and we have seen a growing awareness of the importance of welfare”.
