The top figures

One in four managers leaves Southern Italy to work for companies in Central and Northern Italy

There are 200,000 executives who have moved here from elsewhere: Milan attracts over 67,000 of them

by Pietro Spotorno

22 June 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

In Italia, there is a brain drain that is not directed towards other countries but remains within the country’s borders: it is the migration of highly skilled people who leave the South to move to the Central and Northern regions in search of better job opportunities.

This is a constant drain of skilled workers leaving the South, which exacerbates regional inequalities.

Regions of origin

One need only look at the region of origin of the directors working in companies in the Centre and North: according to data from InfoCamere, there are almost 200,000 people born in the South who hold corporate governance roles in the rest of the country. Of these, 123,000 work in companies in the North and 75,000 in those in the Centre. Lombardy remains Italia’s driving force, attracting 67,000 managers originally from the South all on its own.

The contribution of the southern regions to the governance of northern companies is on the rise: in 2012, directors born in the South accounted for 11.6 per cent of managers working in the Centre-North; fifteen years later, this figure had risen to 12.6 per cent. The South finds itself in a paradoxical situation: the number of people born in the South holding corporate management positions has increased by 268,733 compared with 2012 (+52%), but a quarter of them (25.2%) leave their region to move to the Centre-North.

Campania is the main region of origin for administrators who move from the South to the Centre-North (32 per cent). It is followed by Sicily (20 per cent) and Puglia (17 per cent).

Thanks to the capital, Central Italy is the region with the highest proportion of local councillors born outside the region: more than one in five (21 per cent) come from outside the region, 14 per cent from the South and 7 per cent from the North. In the North, however, ‘non-local’ councillors account for 15 per cent.

LA MOBILITÀ DEI MANAGER NATI AL SUD

Persone con carica di amministratore in società di capitale, per macroarea di nascita e di sede dell’impresa, al 31 marzo 2026. Numeri assoluti e in percentuale

Governance in the South

The southern regions not only lose talent but also attract very little: the proportion of ‘local’ directors – that is, those born and having remained in their own region – stands at around 90 per cent, with peaks of 94 per cent in Sicily and 93 per cent in Campania, figures that have risen since 2012.

Only 6% of directors working in Southern Italy come from Central and Northern Italy, specifically from Lazio (1.7%) and Lombardy (1.4%). However, this low proportion may not necessarily be attributable to the region’s appeal. According to Antonio Santocono, president of Infocamere, there are several possible interpretations: ‘It could, in part, be a return of the second generation – that is, the children of southern migrants who were born and raised in the Centre-North and are now returning to support their family businesses of origin. But it is equally plausible that the figure reflects the strategic plans and governance structures of large industrial groups, publicly owned companies or investment funds that have their centres of gravity in Milan and Rome.”

The InfoCamere report describes the cities in the South with the highest entrepreneurial density as “monolithic strongholds” with a high rate of endogenous governance (Naples 94 per cent, Bari 87 per cent, Palermo 94 per cent). The only real gateway for managers from outside the region is the governing bodies of limited companies, where the rate of endogeneity drops by as much as 10 percentage points, whilst sole directors typically remain locals.

LA PROVENIENZA DEI MANAGER PER REGIONE

Quota di amministratori d’impresa in base alla macro area di nascita. In % sul totale degli incarichi nelle società di capitale registrate sul territorio regionale

Attractive hubs

The situation is diametrically opposite for the central and northern hubs: in Milan, 42 per cent of senior management positions are held by managers born outside the region, and almost half of these (20 per cent) come from the South. In Turin, one in four senior managers was born outside the region, and in Rome, one in three. Whilst Milan and Rome attract a growing proportion of Italy’s managerial class and the North retains almost all managers born within its own territory (only 6% move to the Centre-South), the South loses 25% of its managers and struggles to attract them from elsewhere.

“Analyses such as this,” concludes Santocono, “enable political and economic decision-makers to accurately identify the driving forces that underpin the development of the country’s managerial elites, and to devise strategies that take account of this complex landscape of talent.”