Curriculum, large resignations have increased career gaps

The phase of large resignations, often given without having another job offer, especially by younger people, less burdened by financial and family burdens, has opened up increasingly widespread gaps in workers' resumes. LiveCareer has analysed over 7 million of them created on its platform, finding that periods of inactivity are no longer the exception, but the new normal in the professional world. Not only for women, to whom the majority of resignations used to be attributable. And perhaps, professional interruptions or breaks no longer have such a negative connotation as they had in the past.

The analysis covers the five-year period between 2020 and 2025, the one in which there were hundreds of thousands of resignations, a phenomenon that started in the United States but also affected our country. In 2025, almost a third of resumes in Italy (32%) will have at least one year left. This figure appears to be slightly higher than in 2022 and shows the impact of the aforementioned phenomenon, as well as linking up with issues such as outplacement, resignations due to maternity and caregiver assistance and long-term unemployment.

But how long do the gaps last? Gaps of less than one month are found in half of the CVs that present them. The positive aspect of this phenomenon can be attributed to an increasingly dynamic labour market characterised by professional mobility, where frequent job changes and flexible working are reshaping people's paths. However, the gaps are not always short. In fact, 39% of CVs show a gap of 6 months or even longer, which is more worrying.

In 2025, only half of Italian workers will have an unbroken CV, a percentage that is decreasing compared to the past: 51% in 2022 and 61% in 2020. This is also due to women's greater participation in work, which is more characterised by discontinuity than that of men: the traditional and linear career paths that have mainly characterised the employment of men, with the greater presence of women at work are thus flanked by increasingly articulated and discontinuous careers that are no longer, however, considered as negatively as in the past. And they have forced more than one company to revise its algorithm for selecting resumes.

LiveCareer's analysis shows that long-term career gaps peaked in 2025. Although the numbers have reduced slightly by 2024, the consequences of the pandemic continue to weigh on work habits and employment stability. 'Career breaks are now an established reality in today's working world,' explains Jasmine Escalera, career expert for LiveCareer - 'Employers should overcome old prejudices. These breaks often reflect personal growth, the acquisition of new skills or necessary life changes, not a lack of ambition or ability'. For job seekers, however, it is necessary to make the most of downtime by explaining at the interview stage the experiences they have had during this time, from freelancing to family care or training, how these activities have enriched their skills and how they have been an opportunity for personal growth and development.