The operation

An ‘Italian brain drain’? 50 per cent return home

Welfare, pensions, job security, sick pay, holidays and leave: the hidden costs of living abroad

by Rosario De Luca*

8 September 2026

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3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

The Italian peculiarity
Circularity of talent

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

For years, the debate on the mobility of Italians has been confined to a phrase that is as effective as it is incomplete: ‘brain drain’. It captures a real problem — the loss of educated young people and skills — but turns every departure into a permanent exile and a sign of Italia’s failure. The data call for a less emotional interpretation.

According to Istat, in 2025 the number of Italian citizens moving abroad stood at 109,000, compared with 141,000 the previous year: 32,000 fewer departures, a fall of 22.7 per cent. Returns totalled around 56,000. But for every hundred Italians who left, more than fifty returned. Mobility is no longer a one-way street: people leave, gain skills and, increasingly, return.

There is also an economic reason. In the international comparison, monthly salary, gross annual pay and disposable income are all lumped together. A nominally higher pay slip does not guarantee greater spending power. One must deduct the costs of housing, transport, education, healthcare and services; then assess stability, pensions and protection during periods of unemployment.

The Italian peculiarity

It is here that the Italian system reveals a wealth that is not apparent in rankings based on monthly salary. Remuneration includes the basic salary, the thirteenth-month payment and, where applicable, the fourteenth-month payment; severance pay (TFR); paid holidays and leave; allowances; healthcare benefits; supplementary pension schemes, bilateral agreements and training. Added to this are protections for maternity, paternity, sickness, disability, accidents and involuntary unemployment.

A key factor is the legal stability of the employment relationship. In Italia, an employment contract cannot be terminated overnight on an arbitrary basis: dismissal must be based on just cause or valid grounds, comply with formal requirements, procedures and notice periods, and is subject to judicial review. In other countries, particularly outside the European Union and in systems that allow for termination ‘at will’, job security depends much more on the employer’s discretion. This means being able to plan one’s home life, family and future without the uncertainty of suddenly losing one’s income and job.

Even time has economic value. Sick leave, during which a sick worker retains their job within the limits set by law and collective agreements, does not feature in the job offer, but becomes crucial in times of vulnerability. The same applies to protection against accidents at work and whilst travelling to and from work, sick pay, pensions and universal access to the National Health Service. Abroad, such safeguards may depend more heavily on individual contracts, private insurance policies or high out-of-pocket costs.

You may therefore earn more each month but have less disposable income over the course of the year. Double the rent, expensive health insurance, the absence of additional monthly payments or severance pay, and reduced cover for absences can eat into the salary differential. Gross annual pay (RAL) is merely the first level of comparison: the true measure is total remuneration, relative to the cost of living and the value of employment protections.

Talent circulation

This does not mean denying the problems. Wages must rise; career progression must reward competence and productivity; the South continues to losing qualified young people, particularly to the Centre and North; Italia must attract more human capital. But to ignore the progress made would be to fall into the trap of rhetoric that portrays every departure as irreversible.

We need a policy on talent circulation. International experience should be encouraged: those who spend a few years abroad are not a lost resource, but can become an enhanced asset if they find the right conditions for returning. Stable employment, innovation, research, housing, family support services and productivity-linked pay can transform mobility into investment.

Reporting on people leaving makes for headlines; reporting on people returning does so far less, because it undermines the prevailing narrative. Yet these returns and the slowdown in emigration signal that the situation is changing.

The ‘brain drain’ does exist, but it does not tell the whole story. Many leave to gain qualifications and then return, discovering that well-being is not simply a matter of the net amount on their payslip. It is the sum of income, rights, security and services. It is against this yardstick that Italia must assess its limitations, whilst also recognising that its social and contractual framework is more competitive than the prevailing narrative would suggest.

*President of the National Council of the Order of Labour Consultants