In January 2025, the Italian companies plan to hire over 497 thousand workers, with a total of approximately 1,4 million jobs planned for the first quarter. Driving this demand are the tourism sector, which records an increase of 16 thousand hires compared to January 2024, and the business, with 2 thousand more units. On the contrary, themanufacturing industry and Business services show a decline, with a reduction of 12 thousand hires for each sector. The difficulty in finding candidates remains high, affecting almost half of the hirings, equal to 49,4%. These are the data provided by the latest Bulletin of the Excelsior information system, created by Unioncamere and the Ministry of Labour, with the support of the National Programme Youth, Women and Work co-financed by the European Union.
Positive expectations for tourism, trade and construction; manufacturing down
The Excelsior bulletin highlights an increase in demand mainly in the tourism, trade and construction sectors. Tourism expects approximately 67 thousand hires (+16 thousand compared to 2024), while the trade provides 77 thousand hires (+2 thousand). The construction sector records modest growth (+1,4%), with 52 thousand positions. The manufacturing industry, on the other hand, suffers a decrease, with 161 thousand hires expected, down 6,4% compared to last year.
246 thousand hard-to-find hires (49%)
La difficulty in finding candidates right remains high, with the mismatch between supply and demand which affects approximately 49,4% of the expected hiring, equal to 246 thousand jobs. Among the most difficult profiles to find on the market, there are engineers (58,5%) and analysts in the Application Design (62,1%) in the intellectual and scientific professions sector. The difficulty is also considerable for the production process management technicians (67%) and for the health technicians (66,3%).
Among the workers, the most difficult professions to find are those related to the maintenance of electrical and electronic equipment (75,5%) and welding and metal carpentry specialists (74,5%).
Fixed-term contracts and preferences for young people
I fixed-term contracts are the most commonly offered, with approximately 215 thousand expected hires, equal to 43,2% of the total. permanent contracts represent 23,1%, with 115 thousand expected hires. In terms of education levels, 34% of searches concern candidates with a professional qualification or diploma (167 thousand units), while 28% are aimed at high school graduates (138 thousand units) and 18% at university graduates (90 thousand units).
Particular attention is also paid to the young, with over 148 positions reserved for those under 30, especially in the financial, tourism and IT sectors.
Immigrant workers: a further opportunity for the market
Another relevant trend concerns the recourse to immigrant workers. Italian companies plan to hire approximately 89 foreign workers, equal to 18% of total hires. The sectors most likely to hire foreign workers are operational services (28,8%), logistics (26,3%), metallurgical industries (21,4%) and accommodation and food services (20%).
Hiring by geographical area
At the territorial level, the North-West and the South of Italy are the areas with the highest number of expected hires, 159 thousand and 123 thousand respectively. The North-East follows with 115 thousand and the Center with 101 thousand. In the North-East there is a difficulty in finding above average, with a rate that exceeds 54%.
