From sales to legal, large-scale retail seeks 20,000 workers

In terms of Employer Branding, companies continue to invest in strategic levers to attract new talent, with a particular focus on training and welfare (65%), followed by enhancing brand reputation (55%) and economic treatment (50%). Commitment to Employer Branding now appears to be consolidated: 95% of companies say they are working on it, with initiatives ranging from training employees as Brand Ambassadors (53%) to organising periodic dedicated events (68%), thus strengthening their ability to attract and involve the new generations. 65% of companies have adopted Employee Retention strategies, emphasising in particular team building activities (77%), welfare initiatives (69%) and transversal training courses (62%), together with a growing focus on feedback culture and brand reputation. Agile working also proves to be a fundamental lever for fostering the loyalty of resources.

In spite of the collective imagination, the use of staff leasing contracts in the sector fell to 1.8% of hours worked (it was 2.1% in 2023), confirming its marginality. The trend particularly concerns the food sector (2.3%, down from 2.7%), while in specialised retail it remains at minimal levels (0.6%). Another characteristic of the sector is the presence of women, so much so that the female employment rate is 62.1%, more than 20 percentage points above the Italian average. The sector continues to support the employment of young women, with 20% of female employees under the age of 30, compared to the Italian average of 12% in 2024, and is committed to combating high youth unemployment among women. However, turnover is increasing. Considering only permanent contracts and excluding terminations due to expiry or retirement, the rate is 15%, up from 13.9% in 2023.

From a generational point of view, the PwC Italia study shows that more than half of the employed, around 52%, are concentrated in the 30-50 age bracket, 18% in the under-30 bracket, while the over-50s, which are the fastest growing bracket, have risen to over 30%, 8 points higher than 2023. "The gradual ageing of workers mirrors the ageing of the Italian population, and is the result of fewer young people on the labour market," Buttarelli comments. In parallel with age, the level of education is also growing: university graduates now account for 10.7% of the total, a constant increase since 2018, while secondary school, although decreasing, still represents a significant share (30.1%). As for company seniority, the data show an increase in the share of the company population with less than five years' seniority, rising from 36% in 2023 to 39.3% in 2024. This trend is mainly driven by the food sector, also because of the need to support company turnover, while specialised retail remains stable but already has a high incidence of the population with less company seniority.

In 2024, investment in training grew by +20% compared to 2018, with a stable internal/external split (57% vs 43%), while training hours reached +66%, amounting to 30.8 average hours per FTE (Full-Time Equivalent): 28.5 in food and 35.5 in specialised retail. In the course of the working relationship, a strong relevance emerges both of the organisation of sharing moments (65%), central to strengthening team spirit, and of individual assessment (70%), confirming the balance between the collective dimension and the valorisation of the individual. At the same time, there is a growing commitment on the part of companies towards the enhancement of internal talent: 70% of companies promote internal mobility through calls for vacant positions, a sign of a culture increasingly oriented towards professional growth and development. Eighty per cent of companies have implemented a periodic evaluation system that enhances key skills such as problem solving (81%), result orientation (81%) and relational skills (75%). The appraisal process is confirmed as a strategic tool: in 81% of cases it is perceived as a lever for professional growth and, for 69%, as a factor that also affects pay. As Buttarelli observes, 'we invest a lot in people's training to develop increasingly specific skills because in the point of sale people's role is increasingly consultative. Add to this the fact that there is a commitment on the part of companies to preserve the work-life balance in order to maintain a long working relationship with people, also because of the investment that is made in their training, which is increasingly becoming a value'.

38% of current skills will be transformed by 2030, highlighting a strong mismatch between skills and roles. 55% of companies across Europe (65% in Italia) cite direct funding of reskilling and upskilling programmes as the public measure with the greatest potential to increase the availability of talent by 2030. In the Italia context, the retail sector is addressing staff shortages through targeted recruitment and training strategies to reduce the mismatch between demand and supply of skills. Companies in the sector are focusing on specific training programmes and targeted selection processes, with the aim of attracting qualified workers in operational roles and guaranteeing high service standards, thus bridging the skills gap in the local market. Authentic employer branding is also a key element in attracting and retaining young workers, offering a work experience that harmoniously integrates the physical and digital dimensions of retail.

In 2024, companies in the large-scale retail sector made extensive use of smart working, especially in head office functions, with 80% of companies using it and 63% opting for it according to roles and tasks, thus guaranteeing flexibility and targeted organisation. Compared to last year, company choices on agile working have become more spread out: 2 days remain the main option (31%), but the adoption of 4 and 5 days is also growing significantly, a sign of growing experimentation towards more flexible forms of smart working. More and more companies continue to invest in making smart working an effective way of working (69%). In particular, 73 per cent have provided employees with dedicated IT equipment, while 55 per cent have invested in training to enhance IT security skills. Moreover, delving into the regulatory aspect, the PwC study identifies some changes. First of all, 100% have dedicated company regulations. Among companies that use smart working, the percentage of those that have signed a trade union agreement increases to 19%. In addition, 81% of companies allow workers to choose the place where they work in agile mode as long as health and safety criteria are met, as well as the protection and confidentiality of company data and information. Finally, 19% provide for office rotation/reservation. For companies, the main benefits of agile working that have been detected concern employee well-being translated into a better work-life balance, followed by an increase in staff trust and empowerment that can have a direct impact on efficiency or productivity.

The managerialisation of companies still remains low, although recent years have seen a progressive commitment to strengthening the development of managerial figures, investing above all in coaching (80%) and customised career paths (70%). Alongside these levers, inter-functional work groups (65%) and external training experiences (55%) are also gaining importance, confirming an increasingly complete and diversified approach to the growth of managers. The average age of middle managers has fallen slightly, while that of executives has remained more or less stable. The incidence on total employees is 0.5% for executives and 2.4% for middle managers. The number of middle managers decreased compared to the previous year but remains higher than in 2018. The percentage of female middle managers confirms the positive trend and stands at 28%, compared to 26% in 2023, thus coming closer to the Italian national average (female middle managers at 32.7%).