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WORKING IN ITALY

Italy confirms how many work permits it will grant in 2023

Italy's government has published its 'decreto flussi' for 2023, revealing how many work permits will be released this year.

Published: 30 January 2023 12:48 CET
Italy has confirmed how many work permits it will issue to foreign nationals in 2023.
Italy has confirmed how many work permits it will issue to foreign nationals in 2023. Photo by Marcello PATERNOSTRO / AFP.

The decree, published in Italy’s Official Gazette on January 26th, grants a total of up to 82,705 permits for foreign workers for 2023.

Over half of those – 44,000 – are allocated for seasonal work, with the remaining 38,705 available for non-seasonal and self-employment reasons.

READ ALSO: What to know about getting an Italian work permit in 2023

The vast majority of non-seasonal permits – 30,105 – are reserved for work in the haulage, construction, shipbuilding, mechanics, telecoms, hotel tourism and food industries, the labour ministry said in a press release.

500 are allocated for self-employment, including entrepreneur investors who will create at least three jobs, artists, and founders of start-ups, among other categories.

The decreto flussi, which is usually translated as ‘flows decree’, is the annual piece of legislation which governs the number of work permits available to those coming to Italy from outside of the European Union and the European Economic Area (EEA).

READ ALSO: The jobs in Italy that will be most in demand in 2023

The latest decreto flussi has significantly increased the number of work permits available, up from 69,700 in 2022 and 30,000 in 2021.

However it also introduces new and stricter criteria for issuing the permits.

For non-seasonal permits, employers must now confirm with the relevant job centres that no qualified Italian nationals are available to perform the work before putting in an authorisation request.

The stipulation comes into force as the Italian government cuts unemployment benefits for those in Italy who are deemed fit to work.

The requirement is waived, however, for those who have completed training programmes in their country of origin that are specifically designed to send workers to Italy under the decreto flussi.

Applications for this year’s permits will open on March 27th.

Getting one of these permits is just the start. As a non-EEA citizen, there are three main documents you’ll need to live and work in Italy: a work permit (nulla osta), a work visa (visto) and a residence permit (permesso di soggiorno).

Find out more information about the types of Italian work visa available here.

Please note that The Local is unable to advise on individual cases or assist with job applications.

For more information about visa and residency permit applications, see the Italian Foreign Ministry’s visa website, or contact your embassy or local Questura (police headquarters) in Italy.

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POLITICS

Italy pledges to set minimum wage within ’60 days’

Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni has appointed labour and economy experts to resolve the country's ongoing dispute over minimum wages.

Published: 12 August 2023 13:03 CEST
Italy pledges to set minimum wage within '60 days'

The Italian government and opposition parties met on Friday to discuss the contentious issue of a minimum wage, setting a deadline on when a decision will be made.

Italy’s premier Meloni has tasked the National Council for Economics and Labour (CNEL) with creating a bill within sixty days.

That’s the timeframe to find “effective solutions”, and “together”, she stated.

It comes after the ruling coalition government blocked a proposal last month to set a national minimum wage of nine euros per hour.

However, under mounting pressure to address the nation’s meagre salaries, the CNEL will now look into how the government can combat low wages and then present a proposal to parliament.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister attributed the nation’s poor wages “to Italy’s low growth in the last twenty years compared to France and Germany,” reported Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

To determine causes and solutions, the labour council’s president, Renato Brunetta, indicated in a memo that the organisation will also investigate underlying problems that stunt the growth of workers’ pay.

READ ALSO: Survey finds half of all Italians say salaries are too low

This includes delays in contract renewals, made worse by cost of living rises and high taxes, and the impact of unstable, involuntary part-time work.

Although Meloni has pledged a decision will be made ‘by October’, opposition parties are not convinced.

Secretary of the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein, said that there are “no clear ideas, no proposals”.

Populist 5-star party leader and former Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte thinks the meeting was a stalling tactic.

READ ALSO: Italy ranked one of the worst countries for expats to work in – again

“We came in a constructive spirit to meet the government. Only today there was no counter-proposal: involving the CNEL seems to us a ball thrown into the court,” he said.

He added, “We will go ahead with the collection of signatures for a popular initiative law.”

Italy is one of the last few countries that doesn’t have a minimum rate that employers must legally pay staff.

The country has one of the European Union’s lowest rates of wage growth, and the average Italian private sector salary stands at just over 21,800 euros per year according to the most recent available official statistics.

Although the EU passed a new minimum wage directive in 2022 to “ensure decent living standards for workers”, Italy was not included.

Along with Denmark, Austria, Finland, and Sweden, Italy is one of just five EU countries without a minimum wage.

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