Electronics, growing companies but where are the engineers, designers and technicians?

'Concreteness'. Above all, this is what it would take to improve our country's attractiveness to hi-tech talent in electronics and electrical engineering. Mostly engineers, designers, technicians. So 'simplify the bureaucratic aspects, invest seriously in technical and professional training, create real facilities for companies. But above all, we need a different and more positive communication about the Italian industrial world, which is still too undervalued compared to its actual capacity to offer a future and opportunities for growth'. Andrea Moretti is the CEO of Palazzoli, a medium-sized company in the large electrical engineering and electronics sector. It has a turnover of 70 million euro and has grown steadily by 10% in the last three years thanks to international development and innovation. In the coming years it will continue to recruit at a fast pace. There are 200 employees, considering the international activities they become 300, the average number of employees is 20 per year, in 2024 there were 30 and 'thanks to the ongoing investments we expect to maintain this pace in the coming years'.

The electrical and electronics sector has exceeded 100 billion in turnover in Italy and is grappling with unprecedented development, thanks to the double green and digital transition, but also with a lack of profiles with technical and specialised skills. Three out of four companies speak of a shortage of technicians and specialised workers, who now account for 85% of recruitment, according to data from Anie, the Confindustria association representing companies in the sector. It is a big issue on which managers of medium-sized companies, but also of multinationals, are aligned. The companies' recruitment plans have to deal with a market where there is very strong competition from other sectors. Michele Viale, managing director of Alstom in Italy, knows something about this. In our country, the multinational has 4,300 employees, which has grown by almost 600 in the last two years. "The railway sector in Italy represents a technological supply chain with a turnover of EUR 6.4 billion in 2023, 23% of which will be exported, with over 20 thousand direct employees,' says Viale. It is a system characterised by great dynamism and constant growth, supported by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the IPCEI Fund. Despite this, the railway sector is increasingly competing with automotive, energy and logistics to attract specialised technical profiles, due to the increasing transversality of skills and the perceived attractiveness of other sectors'. In 2024 alone, Alstom in Italy added more than 400 new resources, 'a figure that reflects the company's sustained growth and its desire to continue investing in human capital,' Viale states. With the projects underway and investments planned until 2026, we expect to continue this trend, especially in technical, engineering and digital profiles'. A scenario in which he also finds himself Emiliano Diotallevi, country HR of Abb, which, in Italy, manages about 500 positions, with a distribution that sees 51% of early talents, 44% of professionals with more than 2 years of experience, 5% of middle managers and 1% of top managers. 'The forecast for 2025 is to maintain or exceed these volumes, thanks to ongoing projects and the expansion of some key areas,' Diotallevi explains. Not without difficulties. Currently, one of the main ones concerns 'the growing shortage of specialised technical skills, particularly in areas such as industrial automation, electrification and digitisation. The market is very competitive and talents with these skills are in high demand, not only in our sector,' says the Abb manager. Not a very different picture is told by Ludovica Zigon, board member and sales director of the GETRA Group, which manufactures high-voltage high-power transformers and power grid interconnection systems and is involved in a significant number of national and international strategic projects. In the group "there is a need for a continuous expansion of the workforce, both in the production departments as well as in the design and engineering areas, contributing directly to employment expansion," says Zigon. The industrial group has over 300 employees in Italy and abroad, two plants in Campania and a Branch in Dubai. "We are looking for technical profiles: electrical engineers, mechanical designers, process technicians, but also experts in industrial digitalisation, project managers, and profiles with skills in sustainability,' Zigon lists. 'In the last three years we have hired 130 people including engineers, technicians, and skilled workers. The trend continues to grow, especially considering the evolution of the international markets and the commitment to Pnrr and European projects'.

Growth prospects yes, but there is 'an increasing difficulty in finding technical profiles, especially young people with industrial training and STEM skills. The mismatch between the needs of the production world and the training offer is evident. If this trend is not reversed, there is a real risk of projects slowing down or of having to forego important opportunities for lack of adequate resources,' Zigon continues. A significant proportion of companies are talking about this issue, according to a study by the Teha group with the Servizio studi of Anie (the Confindustria association representing companies in the sector) and the contribution of Intesa Sanpaolo's Research department. Three out of four companies speak of a shortage of technicians and specialised workers, who now account for 85% of their recruitment. The issue concerns more than the quantity of candidates, their preparation to fill the available positions. This situation, in perspective, could have a very negative impact. Indeed, 70% say they have had to slow down or suspend strategic projects, while 29% have lost market opportunities. In either case, the centrality of human capital is evident even in the most technological and automated companies. And 64% also speak of difficulties in retaining talent, due to the strong competition from other sectors, which is much fiercer than in the past.

Finding difficulty is not a temporary problem that has just appeared in the labour market. Taking the years 2017 and 2023, the recruitment difficulty rose from 37% to 58% to reach 64% in 2024. This is an ever-increasing trend that companies are working on internally with targeted policies on training, orientation and the valorisation of technical work, in a very complex external context where numerous criticalities are added up, ranging from the double green and digital transition to the demographic crisis.

All this makes it vital to have the right skills in order not to lose competitiveness. Diotallevi, for example, says that at Abb, in order to respond to the employment challenges, 'in addition to targeted employer branding projects, the definition and promotion of a clear and attentive corporate culture, collaboration with universities and Its in the area, and the development of clear and motivating career paths, there are a number of employer branding and talent acquisition initiatives activated to meet the difficulties expressed, such as social media campaigns to promote our positions to a specific target on social media, involvement and collaboration with specialist communities, and the creation of a newsletter for the most difficult-to-find roles'.