SOUTH WORKING (ITALY) what it can mean for Italy and its villages. Against the depopulation of the south, that phenomenon linked to smart working called “south working” could be a solution that companies look at with interest. Also to reduce the costs of finding the workforce. These are some of the trends that emerged from a research by Randstad and the Foundation for subsidiarity entitled “South working for the responsible and sustainable development of the country” and presented at the Rimini Meeting.

Smart working and village recovery

According to the research, 77% of companies have adopted smart working and 46% are available for remote working projects from 2 to 5 days a week. In this context, south working can be a tool to support the development of the country and find scarcely available skills. And Italian companies look with interest to the “work hubs” in the South, co-working spaces or real offices with corporate teams located in areas far from the big cities of the Center-North, which they would be willing to open above all to contribute to growth (61%), but also to access difficult-to-find professionals (48%) and reduce costs (35.5%). 61% of companies believe that the hub can be managed directly, as a branch, rather than through external service companies.

The most sought-after professionals in the south

The survey shows that the South is facing a population decline in the coming years that is higher than the national trend. By 2030, the inhabitants between 20-64 years old will be reduced by 11% in the South, compared to the -6.7% expected at the national level. This trend, the research reveals, is the effect not only of demographic factors, but of new internal migratory flows, linked to the search for qualified work.

The researchers analyzed over 1 million and 420 thousand job vacancies posted on major online search sites between 2019 and 2021. Job vacancies in the South accounted for only 8% of the total, while 78% of jobs they are concentrated in the North and 14% in the Center.

The figures sought online in Southern Italy – There are 112,451 job advertisements in the South surveyed online in the period 2019-2021. Among these, those dedicated to profiles with a high level of skills are 50,126. These are in particular sales representatives (4,054), software developers (3,362), secretaries with administrative and executive duties (3,001). The ads for figures with medium skills, on the other hand, are 41,506. The research mainly concerns sales assistants (6,097), installers and repairers of electromechanical equipment (2,917) and maintenance workers of industrial electronic equipment (2,061). About 20,819 ads are dedicated to professions with other skills.

The number of job vacancies on the web changes drastically in other geographical areas: in first place the north-west, with 617,482 open searches (43.5%), followed by the north-east with 482,712 (34%), and the center with 207,655 (14.6%).

Southworking to recover southern cities

However, there is a new phenomenon that can contribute to the growth of the South and counter depopulation and remote areas of the country. It is the possibility of working remotely for companies based throughout the national territory. The survey monitored the experiences of existing work hubs in the South and analyzed the willingness of companies to activate one.

The creation of a work hub can really be the driving force for south working, being able to recruit skills otherwise not accessible, guarantee the work-life balance for people and support local suppliers; But the fundamental prerequisites for successful south working experiences are the creation of an adequate digital infrastructure, adequate spaces and a multilateral effort between companies, employment agencies, reference municipalities and universities