A2A, 72 million welfare plan for employee welfare and attracting talent

There is the workers' housing project, supplementary health care, psychological assistance, wellbeing and anti-addiction initiatives, and conventions. It's a very long list, the total makes 72 million euros of investments with which A2A takes care of its 15 thousand people. This number includes, among other things, welfare goods and services which account for 18 million, 10 million to support parenthood, 39 million for productivity bonuses which employees may choose to allocate in whole or in part to supplementary pension funds, benefiting from an additional contribution from A2A on the converted amount (of around 15%) and finally 5.3 million for the Shareholders' Diffusion Plan to which 11 thousand workers have adhered, more than 86% of those entitled.

Corporate welfare, company chairman Roberto Tasca recalled yesterday at the presentation of the plan, 'has a long tradition: the first forms of support for employees activated in the 1960s to tackle phenomena such as social marginalisation, typical of that period, were already instruments of attention to people and inclusion'. The path has continued over the years with many initiatives, the latest of which is the Diffuse Share Ownership Plan. "Today we are among the first companies in the country and the first that also operates in the circular economy to have activated this programme with 5.3 million euro, which will grow further in the next phase. A plan that is both a form of participation and a lever of financial education. CEO Renato Mazzoncini, speaks of the group's growing commitment 'to employee welfare, which has grown over the years and has become central to our strategy. For our people, we have provided over 72 million euros per year through a structured system that has evolved and strengthened over time to become a reference model in our industry. An example of this is the 120 million euro plan to 2035 to support our colleagues in their parenting projects'.

The plan intertwines many aspects of the various dimensions that contribute to fostering people's wellbeing, including family, savings, health and leisure: the growth of A2A's investments is part of an increasingly virtuous context, as explained yesterday by Milan State University lecturers Marilisa D'Amico, Maurizio Ferrera and Franca Maino. Research carried out by Percorsi di secondo welfare, the laboratory that studies the changes taking place linked to the university's Department of Social and Political Sciences, says that in 2023 Italian companies invested around 3.2 billion euros in corporate welfare. This figure is up by more than 6% compared to the previous year, confirming a positive trend that has seen the consolidation of organisations' culture on social issues over the last 10 years. Among companies, in fact, awareness continues to grow of how these policies are able to improve the well-being of those who work, positively affecting the internal climate, productivity and attractiveness of organisations. Yesterday's presentation was attended not only by company managers but also by the mayor of Brescia Laura Castelletti and the mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala.

The effects of demographic and social changes call for action to respond to the new needs of citizens: in this context, the services provided by companies, working alongside and integrated with public welfare, can help to generate a positive impact in creating value for the territory and communities. Entering into the details of A2A's history, Mauro Ghilardi, A2A's people and transformation director, highlighted how, starting with the first health care funds for families, holiday homes and summer camps, the group's commitment has expanded. In the last 18 months alone, two plans have been launched, the one for parenting (A2A Life caring) with economic aid and training initiatives, which provides 10 million a year (120 over the plan period), and the one for widespread shareholding A2A Life Sharing. The distinctive elements of the two plans, as the manager pointed out, also lie in the sharing with the trade unions.