Atypical work grows in Italy

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A study conducted by the Censis research centre, published in September 1999, suggests that Italian employers may be abandoning the idea of traditional, full-time open-ended employment contracts. "Atypical" workers represent, at present, the only growth area of employment in Italy.

In 1997, there were under 1 million "atypical" workers - ie workers employed on fixed-term or part-time contracts, consultants and "semi-subordinate" workers - in Italy, but in March 1999 this figure had risen to around 1.6 million. This is one of the findings of a survey carried out by the Censis (Centro studi investimenti sociali) research centre and presented to the Chamber of Deputies committee for public and private employment on 8 September 1999.

The 1994-8 period saw a decrease in full-time employment of 2.2%, a stable percentage of independent workers, and an 26.4% increase in the number of "atypical" workers, who were responsible for a total employment growth of 0.4%. The 1997-8 period saw a 7.7% increase in the number of independent and dependent part-time workers and a 10.2% increase in fixed-term employment. Consultancy and freelance work which is "coordinated" by an employer has also increased by 35.9% (from 984,728 people in 1997 to 1,153,491 in 1998). Such forms of "semi-subordinate" employment seem to be replacing traditional work/training contracts and homeworking, which have decreased over recent years.

The Censis study includes the following facts about atypical workers:

• their average age has increased, from 38 in 1997 to 44 in 1999. Women fall mainly within the 26-35 age group, while men are found across a larger age bracket, with 22.1% of them over the age of 56;

• they tend to have a high educational level - 55% have a high-school diploma while 29% have a university degree;

• they are mainly technical, specialist and financial "consultants" and they are predominantly used by the industrial sector, particularly in the northern regions where semi-subordinate workers represent 9% of the entire workforce, compared with 5% in the South;

• Lombardy is the region with the higher number of atypical workers (365,000) followed by Emilia Romagna and Veneto. Campania, the highest-ranked southern region, stands only seventh, with almost 67,000 atypical workers;

• geographical differences are also very significant as regards remuneration. In the North, the average monthly pay of an atypical worker amounts to ITL 2.5 million (EUR 1,290), compared with ITL 1.4 million (EUR 722) in the South; and

• 39% of the atypical workers interviewed stated that they were in such employment because there were no other possibilities, while 41% stated that they preferred this form of employment and considered it an "emerging model of employment". Only 4% of those interviewed considered atypical employment as just a means to enter the labour market.