Giorgianni: a tax credit for companies that support training in the Its Academy

Implementing youth employment is one of Italy's great challenges. Parlament24 reports on a bill that aims to introduce a tax credit for companies to support training initiatives promoted by the Its to hire young graduates. A text being examined by the Finance Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, whose first signatory is MP Carmen Letizia Giorgianni (Fdi), with the support of MP Ylenja Lucaselli (Fdi). There is a growing need in the labour market to reduce the gap between the skills acquired in training and the actual demands of the productive world.

'This bill,' explains MP Letizia Giorgianni, 'starts from a very simple observation. Today there is no lack of work, but a lack of the right skills. Very often the business world is looking for qualified professional skills that the training world is not always able to offer in a timely and responsive manner. This is where my bill comes from: we focused on the Its Academy precisely because it represents a direct channel between training and work. We want to incentivise companies to enter the training world directly, encouraging them to invest.

The proposal envisages a tax credit for companies, variable for micro, small, medium and large enterprises, which intervenes with scholarships in the training of young people in the Its. "We have envisaged a very simple and concrete mechanism," Giorgianni explains, "a tax credit calibrated according to the size of the companies. So for micro and small companies the tax credit will be equal to 100 per cent of the amount invested. For medium-sized companies the tax credit will be 90 per cent and for larger companies the tax credit will be 80 per cent. It is a measure focused mainly on small and medium-sized enterprises, which are the productive fabric of our society'. The measure, explained the Fdi deputy, applies 'to all companies resident in the Italian state, regardless of the economic sector they are in or the legal reason. It is a very inclusive measure. Only companies in crisis or even in liquidation will be excluded so as not to disperse these funds'.

The bill provides for a coverage of about EUR 4 million per year. "The charges are taken from the structural fund for economic interventions at the Mef. It is, however, a fairly moderate economic measure. It will be a measure that will act as an economic lever to then become, we hope, structural'. In this scenario, the Its Academies are an important bridge between school and employment, a response to the need for qualified technicians to which Il Sole24Ore dedicated a series of video interviews to inform students and families about the potential of these institutes to promote youth employment.