For 2024

PNRR

The measures enacted by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies - Mission 5 “Inclusion and Cohesion” of the PNRR - involve the entire system of active policies in the sectors of labor and training, and the policies of social inclusion, targeted on the more vulnerable members of the population. 

Institutional messaging on the entire PNRR was programmed, with specific advertising campaigns and conferences, culminating in a report on the activities enacted to date, with special focus on the policy choices made by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies on the occasion of negotiations on the REPowerEU section, which led to a revision of the Italian Plan of Recovery and Resilience.

At same time, the Ministry of Labor obtained an increase of 1 billion 54 million euro for financing the Reform of the “ALMPs and professional training (GOL Program) and was also asked to enact an ambitious new reform involving all institutional levels in drafting a roadmap and time frame for the activities to be carried out. The goal of this reform will be to determine certain key principles, such as: greater involvement of the private sector in the training offering; better recognition of on-the-job training; implementation of systems of analysis (formerly left to the labor market) and monitoring of the effects of funded training on employment.

Institutional advertising will emphasize, in particular, the following topics:

  • Labor policies (component1): the increase in job opportunities for young people and local re-equilibration, with the development of the South and internal areas of Italy; female empowerment and measures against gender discrimination;
  • National plan to combat irregular employment: with the goal of increasing awareness of the dimensions of the shadow economy, which affects every other initiative, often limiting their effects. The plan of communication on this subject has the goal of spreading a culture of the value of regular employment and the lack of value of irregular labor;
  • Dual System: a method of learning based on alternating periods of training “in the classroom” (at training schools) with periods of training “on the job” (in an office or factory) thus fostering contacts and interactions between the world of education and that of labor;
  • GOL Program: a reform contemplated by the Italian National Plan of Recovery and Resilience (Mission 5, Component 1) to improve the active labor policy services and their implementation is connected with the Plan for strengthening the employment centers at the national level by adding new resources;
  • Social infrastructures, family, communities and third sector (component 2): key measures contemplated by component2 of mission 5 of the PNRR are the Social operations plan and the Reform relative to non-self-sufficient elderly citizens. 

On March 22, 2023, the government gave its final approval to the enabling law on the subject of policies in favor of the elderly, the so-called “Elderly Enabling Law“, with the aim of introducing measures to promote active aging, independence and the prevention of fragilities linked to advanced aged.

The reform of the enabling law calls for recognition of the right of the elderly citizens to continue to live and receive care at home according to the principle of simplification and integration of the procedures for evaluation of non-self-sufficient individuals. The outline of the legislative decree implementing the enabling law on the governance of the national policy in favor of the elderly is currently in the process of obtaining approval. The provision, approved by the Council of Ministers on January 26, 2024, is, as we write, being examined by the parliamentary commissions.

IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW MEASURES OF INCLUSION

Implementation of the new measures of social and workplace inclusion are at the center of initiatives of institutional advertising for 2024, in particular, on the subject of:

  • Support for Training and Labor (SFL): this includes measures of professional qualification through participation in projects of training and internship, professional requalification, active labor policies of all kinds, projects useful for the collectivity and universal civil service
  • Inclusion Allowance (ADI): this is a national measure to combat poverty, fragility and social exclusion of the weaker members of the community through processes of social inclusion and training, occupation and active labor policies, which got under way from January 1, 2024.

HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE

This issue is central to the program of actions of the Ministry, as detailed in the initiatives announced by the Minister, Marina Calderone, upon taking office.

Although Italy possesses  a wide-ranging system of regulations across the board, the government wants to improve its regulatory apparatus and achieve gains in the sector of accident prevention. In the year of the Brandizzo tragedy, the Ministry fulfilled the commitments undertaken in Parliament and responded actively to the hopes expressed by the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, that it would act concretely to reduce the number of work-related accidents, with a minutely focused approach and the involvement of all those in positions of responsibility throughout the country.

The draft budget of INAIL for 2024 calls for doubling the number of resources engaged in applying policies of prevention in the field of safety: a total of 1.5 billion euro have been allocated to assist employers who invest to increase safety levels. For the first time, a portion of the surplus generated by the administration of INAIL will be used to provide tools to workers and enterprises. What is more, in 2024, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies intends to reshape the rate of oscillation for those companies that invest in safety, reducing their accident ratio.

In addition to improving and ensuring more accurate supervision of the health service, insurance coverage was also added for accidents to students and school personnel: this is a concrete sign of the strong interest that exists in acting to resolve the issue.  

The wide range of action on the subject has also led to the launch of a competition entitled:

  • Health and Safety… together! The Ministry of Labor and Social Policies, Office for Health and Safety in the Workplace, by agreement with the Ministry of Education and Merit, has announced a national competition entitled "Health and Safety… together! - Learning in school how to prevent accidents and improve safety in the workplace", a course for high school students in both public and equivalent private schools as well students as enrolled in programs of professional instruction and training. The initiative has the mission of spreading a culture of health and safety in the workplace by allowing the participants to engage a process of common growth, oriented toward learning and valorizing the subject matter, which is of fundamental importance. A jury consisting of members of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies and of the Ministry of Education a Merit  will decide the winners of the competition.

The ceremony for presentation of the awards to the winners of the competition will be held on the occasion of the World Health and Safety in the Workplace Day, around April 28. 

The subject will also be given special attention in advertising, where there are plans to increase the initiatives, also from the standpoint of content and use of different avenues of communication to include a major increase of presence of the Ministry on social networks in order to ensure the broadest possible contact for spreading the culture of health and safety in the workplace to enterprises and citizens, including the young. 

KEY ISSUES FACING THE LABOR G7 MEETING

On January 1, 2024, Italy was invested, for the seventh time, with the Presidency of the G7: the group that includes Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the USA. The G7, in which the European Union also participates, is united by common values and principles, and has an irreplaceable role in the defense of freedom and democracy and in the management of global challenges.

The Italian Presidency will last until December 31, 2024, and will include an intense program of technical meetings and institutional events that will be held in various locations throughout the country, including meetings and round tables of the Labor Ministries of the member countries, headed by the Italian Labor Minister, Marina Calderone. The final event will take place in September for the presentation of the work of the council of Ministers, in Cagliari. 

Artificial Intelligence, the impact of AI on the labor market

Artificial Intelligence will have a place on the Italian program. Technology can generate great opportunities but also enormous risks, with potential fallout on the geopolitical balance. It is essential to develop mechanisms of government capable of ensuring that AI is centered human wellbeing and controlled by human experts, giving concrete application to the concept of algorethics.

Employment and skills

Like previous technological innovations, the effect of AI on labor markets is not neutral: it replaces some of the tasks performed by humans, but at the same time creates new ones, accompanied by a demand for new and adequate skills.  In general terms, AI applications can replace humans in certain jobs, complete their work in others, but also create new jobs. Therefore, the net effect of AI on labor will depend on the relative weight of these effects and, more in general, on how public and private investments will be made in different technologies. AI is destined to change the demand for skills, and certain professions will be more exposed than others to integration with AI systems, leading to the acquisition of new skills.

AI and the health and safety of workers

The use of AI can improve the health and safety of workers, supporting prevention based on concrete data, advanced risk assessment in the workplace and more efficient inspection, targeted and based on the known risks. For example, collaborative robots (cobots) and systems of wearable technology (exoskeletals) that are based on technologies of artificial intelligence, can reduce the physical force needed for manual activities involving the movement of materials, and provide effective ergonomic actions tending to prevent muscle and bone damage caused by work.