Addressing Italy’s Youth Unemployment Crisis: Mitigating Skills Mismatch

Abstract

In Italy, youth unemployment is a phenomenon affecting one in five individuals aged 15-34, with severe repercussions on the social and economic tenure of the country, its future development, as well as on youth’s mental health.

This policy brief addresses the long-standing problem of Italian youth unemployment through the lens of skills mismatch, identified by research as one of the main reasons behind the phenomenon. The brief has three main objectives:

Address the scarcity of digital and numeracy competencies among children in primary schools with innovative cognitive tools;
Mitigate uninformed career choices with enhanced career orientation projects in middle and high schools;
Address the gap between tertiary education and the job market demand.

Introduction

As of December 2023, the Italian youth unemployment rate was 20.1% (Istat, 2024), while the NEET rate reached 28.1% (OECD, 2023), with one Italian youth out of four (15-29 years) being at risk of poverty (Eurostat, 2023). Combined with the 36,125 Italians that emigrated abroad for job-related reasons in 2023 (CENSIS, 2023), these statistics demonstrate the necessity for the Italian government to take tangible action against the increasing socio-economic crisis affecting mainly younger generations.

Among the main reasons identified behind youth unemployment in Italy, skills mismatch represents a substantial burden, with 21% of workers being under-qualified, 6% under-skilled, and 35% working in a field unrelated to their studies (OECD, 2017; EURES, 2023). These figures are expected to rise in the coming years due to the fast-paced technological development, and the reinterpretation of roles in multiple industries aligned with green transition and sustainability objectives (EURES, 2023).

Youth unemployment negatively affects the country from an economic and financial perspective, with the huge outflow of human capital and young entrepreneurship, as well as from a social perspective, increasing the demographic crisis, the poverty rate, and the tenure of social welfare.

Overview of Research

To explore possible policy reforms suitable to address the skill mismatch in Italy, the brief will focus on those skills identified as “scarce” among the population by the OECD reports on skill strategy, published in 2017 and 2019. These are literacy, numeracy, and digital skills, all rated as “low” and “very low”. This brief also integrates considerations on skills that will be required in the future, based on a research on the labour market’s forecast for Italy (EURES, 2023), which indicate competencies in sustainable practices, coupled with applied mathematical and IT skills, as the most needed. The data will then be discussed in relation to the Italian education system, from primary education to tertiary education, to suggest how this scarcity can be addressed in different stages of schooling.

Recommendations

1. Enhancement of cognitive tools in primary and lower secondary schools

Providing children in primary and secondary school with enhanced cognitive tools necessary to master the required skills in their next educational steps is crucial to fostering the foundation of learning competencies. New tools include educational activities of ordinary subjects through group projects, and the stimulation of creative ideas by the integration of practical tasks into theory. Concerning digital skills, new teaching methods which consider digitalisation as a means of applying and refining other competencies, especially numerical and logical ones, should be introduced to the curricula. Through an interdisciplinary approach, these methods would allow students to practise multiple skills through digital tools, while learning both how to use them and their relevance in performing different tasks. Moreover, the teaching hours allocated for this activity should be increased, from one hour per week for primary schools and no hours for lower secondary schools, to two hours. (MIUR, 2024; Openpolis, 2020).

2. Promotion of career orientation and skills awareness

Upper secondary schools must introduce mandatory courses on topics such as computer science and coding, business and finance, political discourse, ecological practices, debate, and writing techniques. These particular subjects would allow students to train their critical thinking, reach a good level of IT literacy, and grow their interpersonal and communication skills, as well as their problem-solving capacity. In particular, computer science and coding should provide essential knowledge of cybersecurity, data science and computing, necessary for multiple tertiary education faculties. On the other hand, courses related to sustainability and civics should aim to equip students with the tools necessary to effectively convey their opinions on current affairs, and make informed choices in the workplace. Students must attend at least one course per semester, with an allocation of two hours per week. This approach also enhances career orientation, as it allows students to explore their interests and talents, and how they can be applied to the job market and future professional positions.

3. Adaptation of teaching programmes in tertiary education institutes

Tertiary education institutes, especially Social Sciences Faculties, must incorporate courses in digitalisation and sustainability-related topics, tailored to the specific field of study and career prospects. In fact, the current job market not only requires individuals with this type of academic background to master digital tools, but it also calls for working knowledge of sustainability-related laws, practices, and social issues. Such incorporation can be achieved by introducing at least 9 ECTS, mandatory for both Bachelor and Master degrees, which will help students acquire the relevant academic background and the appropriate problem-solving skills. The strategy would allow students to build a multidisciplinary profile, suitable to multiple industries and roles. It is also expected to reduce the number of young students who choose to go abroad to undertake a competency-oriented education.

Conclusion

In a fast-changing world, where digitalisation and green transition are transforming societies and businesses, the job market is adapting by demanding new roles and skill sets. At the same time, the Italian educational system lacks the tools to provide students with the competencies necessary to access the job market. As a consequence, skills mismatch is one of the main reasons behind youth unemployment in Italy, and strong action by the Italian government is vital to address this issue. The three policy recommendations outlined in this brief integrate the development of urgently needed skills into the progressive stages of students' educational path, with special regard to career orientation. Difficulties in the implementation of these recommendations may lie in the low budget allocated to education by the Italian government, which in 2023 represented only 4% of the national GDP (Il Sole 24 Ore, 2023), as well as in the lack of teachers and professors with highly-trained digital skills, especially in primary and lower secondary schools (Camera dei Deputati, 2023). Finally, a possible hurdle can be identified on a cultural level, as new skills and cognitive tools require innovative teaching methods, which may be difficult to accept instead of traditional ones.

References in English