Employment figures and recruitment slowed in July

The Veneto labour market saw a slowdown in recruitment in July, particularly in the manufacturing sector.

In July, in fact, the employment figures were positive but lower than last year’s, with recruitment down by 3 per cent.

In the first seven months of 2026, the net change in private-sector employment in Veneto remained positive (+79,600 jobs) and slightly higher than last year’s figure (+79,100), despite the slowdown observed over the last two months. This is largely due to trends in the industrial sector, against a backdrop of continued economic uncertainty which continues to influence business decisions and production patterns, as explained by Veneto Lavoro’s ‘Bussola’ report.

The positive result for the January–July period was driven by the services sector, particularly tourism-related services (+3 per cent), which saw a further acceleration over the last month. The services sector recorded a total of 61,100 more jobs over the course of the year, in line with the result for the same period in 2025. In addition to tourism, the rise in labour demand has particularly affected cleaning services (+7%) and the publishing and culture sector (+98%), where the main factor was the surge in the number of very short-term contracts linked to film productions recorded in the first half of the year.

In the industrial sector, the slowdown in employment growth (+9,400 salaried jobs compared with +10,800 last year) is almost entirely attributable to the construction sector, which recorded a net increase of +2,800 jobs compared with +4,700 the previous year – an 8 per cent fall in recruitment. Within the ‘Made in Italy’ sector, the fashion industry recorded negative figures, whilst the wood and furniture, eyewear and food industries showed a slight improvement. In the metalworking sector, the monthly net figure has deteriorated, affecting the provisional balance for 2026, which has returned to last year’s levels.