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WORKING IN ITALY

OPINION: Why a ‘posto fisso’ work contract is still the Italian dream

What type of job do Italy's graduates dream of landing? For many, being employed by the state is the ultimate goal. Silvia Marchetti explains what's behind the intense competition for 'posto fisso' jobs in the public sector.

Man carrying a business satchel
For many Italians being employed by the state is the ultimate life goal, but why is that so? Photo by Marten Bjork on Unsplash

The dream of many Italians is to secure a permanent job contract either in the public or private sector – preferably in the public sector – and I know this fixation baffles many foreigners. 

There is a widespread belief, based on reality, that once you are a public employee hardly anything could cause you to lose your job.

The public sector is preferred to the private simply because it guarantees a more stable, secure life-long job that makes families confident about their future, and able to look ahead with optimism and make plans.

The state doesn’t usually fire employees (unless you do something extremely bad), and even the private sector decides layoffs only if there are very sound reasons, because contracts and trade unions protect employees.

There is an obsession in Italy with the so-called posto fisso, meaning a permanent job, even if the workforce has to migrate across the country.

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

The fact that this type of job is the dream of most freshly graduated young people has a lot to do with family education and mentality.

Many Italian parents educate their children on the life-mission of securing a posto fisso, a bit like marrying, buying a house and having kids. And so children grow up with this ultimate goal in their mind, and the belief that having a permanent job with all the benefits, the paid pension schemes, paid holidays, sickness days and severance pay would make their life perfect.

Historic post office building in Italy

A permanent job contract in the public sector is the dream of many Italian graduates. Photo by Sara Cudanov on Unsplash

It would give them total security, and is seen like stare in una botte di ferro (literally meaning “being in an iron barrel”).

Italy has one of the world’s highest rates of spending on social security (second only to France, according to the OECD), and each year more resources are earmarked. This has also impacted on the approach towards work. Everyone wants a slice of the (public) pie.

It still astonishes me listening to many young people chatting on the beach about securing that permanent job, even if it’s not what they like, but they have already calculated what they will be earning over the years, and what their pension would likely be.

Italians generally don’t have much of an entrepreneurial spirit of ‘let’s live life, and work, as an adventure’. There’s a bit of a negativity around going freelance or registering as self-employed, becoming a libero professionista, for it is seen as scary and yielding a highly unstable and insecure future solely based on what you earn, which is really never a fixed amount each month.

Unlike abroad, Italian parents don’t all support libera professione (self-employment) and most would rather see their kids settle down with a safe job contract. Remote workers and freelancers are often looked down upon compared to those with a posto fisso, as if there existed an intangible work hierarchy made of unreachable privileges.

READ ALSO: Reader question: Will Italy follow Spain in introducing a digital nomad visa?

Many friends of mine got the long-coveted posto fisso because their parents were retiring and managed to exchange their retirement with a permanent job for their kid within the same firm or public body.

Police, nurse, firefighter, teacher and public administration jobs are the most wanted, because they’re for life. To get kicked out you must do something very horrible because the type of contract secures your position.

It doesn’t matter what it takes to land a posto fisso. Many friends of mine had to relocate to other cities, either in the very north, or in the very south, to be able to later find a permanent job in Rome, for instance as a middle school teacher.

There was one lady who, in order to teach on her native island off Rome’s coast where she lived, had to go all the way to work in a Basilicata school to get the job she wanted 10 years later on her home island.

Sometimes freshly-hired young people have to commute for hundreds of kilometres per day just to work fuori sede (out of the area) for a few years before landing a position in their own province.

Train station in Rome, Italy

Young Italian graduates often have to commute for hundreds of kilometres every day just to work. Photo by Chad Greiter on Unsplash

A scuba diver friend of mine who works in the fire brigade toured nine northern cities in order to finally settle down in his native Sicily where he could put to use his diving skills in deep Sicilian waters, rather than climbing frozen trees in Treviso to rescue cats.

Public jobs come with huge ‘competitions’ (concorsi pubblici) with thousands of applicants for just a few hundred, or less, available places. The numbers are impressive because the state must allow everyone who meets the required criteria to participate – but then just the lucky ones make it through, and then they often end up on waiting lists anyway.

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

Every time I pass a major Carabinieri military police station in Rome I see young people lined up for exams and they really have miserable faces, having traveled probably hundreds of miles that same day.

State exams for qualified professions such as lawyers are also massive in terms of applicants. The cost to the state is relatively low compared to the time and money applicants must waste on taking part, given that they often have to pay to access state exams.

But there’s also the other side of the coin: exploiting ‘geography’ can come in handy. Surprisingly, attending a state exam to become a lawyer in certain remote southern regions where there are few applicants, thus less competition and easier tests, increases the chances of passing those exams.

Many people I know who failed the state exam for law in Rome after three consecutive attempts eventually passed it in deepest Molise or Abruzzo. They then went back to Rome or Milan to work in some fancy attorney office.

I don’t think Italians will ever get over the posto fisso obsession – unless merit and entrepreneurship are more effectively supported with targeted policies.

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TAXES

‘How we moved to Italy and only pay tax on 50 percent of our income’

Italy’s impatriate tax scheme appeals to many foreigners planning to relocate to Italy, but how exactly does it work? One British couple who used it tell reporter Silvia Marchetti about their experience.

'How we moved to Italy and only pay tax on 50 percent of our income'

Thanks to Italy’s appealing impatriate tax scheme, John and Linda Baker, both 42, from Brighton, now pay tax on just 50 percent of their income – which is about as low as any Italian could ever dream of.

Both remote workers, John is a web designer working for UK clients, while Linda is a freelance copywriter.

In November they rented out their house in Brighton and moved to the Italian seaside resort of Amantea, in Calabria, where they bought a two-bedroom cottage in the countryside, far from the touristy coast, for €59,000.

“We applied for the impatriate tax scheme as soon as we realised we wanted to change life, quit the rat race and move to a sunny place where life was slower-paced,” John tells The Local. 

“It sounded like a great deal, paying tax on just half our income means we get to save a significant amount of money we would never have in the UK.”

This special tax regime for those moving to Italy was approved in 2019 and is available to people who move to any part of the country. Aimed at qualified and skilled foreign workers, it’s for both employed and self-employed people who become fiscal residents and reside in Italy at least 183 days per year.

READ ALSO: What is Italy’s impatriate tax rule and how is it changing?

The 50-percent tax relief on income applies for a maximum of five years and can be extended for another five.

The benefit is capped at an annual salary of €600,000, while no relief is in place for earnings over this amount. The exempt portion of income rises to 60 percent for a worker with at least one child under 18. 

The scheme has been amended over the past few years, and though it has become somewhat less appealing, it still gets plenty of interest. Italians living abroad can also apply and benefit from it. 

Italy’s government introduced the scheme mainly to lure back qualified Italian workers and researchers who had moved abroad. But those taking advantage of it are often foreigners longing to live in Italy.

The Bakers got help from an immigration legal expert in Rome, who sorted out the paperwork for them and filed their application to the Italian authorities. 

READ ALSO: If you want quality of life, choose Italy’s sunny south over the efficient north

“We could have applied directly from the UK but we thought it was better to hire an Italian professional on the ground, with deep knowledge of Italian bureaucracy and the required skills to navigate through procedures,” says Linda. 

The lowest tax band rate in Italy is 23 percent, while the highest is 43 percent. While the Bakers prefer not to disclose how much each one of them earns, they say they will be saving a lot of money, considering income tax in the UK hovers around 40 percent. The couple is confident that the two of them together could save up to €30,000 in taxes per year. 

With the extra money, the Bakers would like to buy another holiday home in Naples, so as to be closer to Rome.

READ ALSO: ‘Research and more research’: How do you choose the right part of Italy to move to?

They decided to ditch the UK due to soaring living costs, and because they wanted to live the Italian dream before they retired, while they were still actively working. 

“Usually when couples retire they start looking for a fresh start, but we did not feel like waiting until we were 60 or 70 to make the big leap and relocate to Italy,” says John. 

Amantea is relatively cheap. Dinner for two people is €35, while utility bills are among the lowest in Italy, adds Linda.

“There are also premium foods like Tropea’s red onions, Calabria’s famous chili peppers, and delicious pasta dishes which we could never even dream of back in the UK”, says John. 

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