Moschini: 'Attracting and retaining young people, a lever for competitiveness'

"The competitiveness of our companies necessarily depends on people, so we cannot afford to be unattractive, especially towards the new generations". For Jacopo Moschini, president of the Giovani Imprenditori di Confindustria Lombardia (Young Entrepreneurs of Confindustria Lombardy), the data that emerged in the latest Labour Survey - in particular those on the decrease in the rate of voluntary resignations in companies in the region - confirm the commitment of Lombardy's companies to meet the needs of their employees.

Demands are changing: young people today demand different things than their parents did. What do you do to attract them, but also to keep them?

This is a fundamental issue for us, so much so that last year at the Summit of Giovani Imprenditori di Confindustria Lombardia we launched the 'Meet your Future' project, in collaboration with the UniversityBox student network, with the aim of bringing young people closer to our companies, because there is a strong mismatch between supply and demand. Salary leverage is important, but it is no longer enough. As the president of Giovani di Confindustria said, if we want to retain the best workers, we have to pay them more. But the new generations are also looking for career prospects, flexibility in terms of location and working hours.

Are Lombard companies doing enough?

Businesses are already doing their part, despite the extremely uncertain and difficult environment. But we come up against labour costs that are higher than the European average, high energy costs and a tax system that takes away our competitiveness. However, politics and the government should have more courage. As Confindustria president Emanuele Orsini said, we need to lower taxes on productivity bonuses, and do the same for company and territorial contracts, in which companies and workers exchange higher productivity for more income and company welfare.