Wages at a standstill: all the reasons for wage stagnation

Highest wages in Industry, lowest wages in Accommodation and Catering

Over the ten-year period, the change in the total number of private employees (+3.68 million) is due for 1.93 million to permanent work, for 1.44 million to fixed-term work and for a smaller share to seasonal work. In comparison with 2019, on the other hand, the total change is +1.73 million employees, of which 1 million are permanent, 550 thousand temporary and 150 thousand seasonal.

The economic sector that 'pays the most' is industry in the narrow sense: in all the years observed, in fact, it has the highest average annual remuneration, amounting to over 27 thousand euro in 2014 and almost 33 thousand euro in 2024 (+21%). Next comes the transport and warehousing sector, with an average in the period under review of around EUR 24-25 thousand.

The lowest average annual remuneration over the entire period is that of the 'Accommodation and Catering' sector: €9,799 in 2014, €11,233 in 2024 (+14.6%). The analysis by average number of paid days in the year shows that it is the sector with the lowest number of days, being characterised by work seasonality and temporary contracts. However, the sector of industry in the narrow sense, which employed 28.1% of employees in 2014 (3.955 million), fell to 24.5%, while the services sector grew, with the sole exception of trade, which lost half a percentage point as a share of the total.

The gender structure has not changed substantially over the years observed, from 42.4 per cent women in 2014 to 42.8 per cent in 2024, just as the gender pay gap is confirmed. In fact, the average annual remuneration of women is about 70% of that of men. In 2024, women's average pay is just under EUR 20,000, men's almost EUR 28,000, although compared to 2014, women's average pay has grown more (+17.5%) than men's (+13.5%). The gender pay gap is only partly explained by the lower number of paid days for women compared to men. Other factors, such as maternity leave, also play a role.

For the average annual salary, there is a lot of difference at teritorial level: it ranges from the minimum of 17,898 euro in the Islands to 28,852 euro in the North West, with the maximum peak of 74,254 euro abroad, which corresponds to more than three times the average (24,485 euro). The incidence of those aged 55 and over rose between 2014 and 2024 from 12% to 20%, in line with the well-known demographic trend of the Italian population. The younger age group is growing, albeit slightly, with its weight rising from 19% to 21%. The average wage, in all years, differs across age groups, as a consequence of contract types characterised by greater work intensity and continuity, and of workers' career paths. The annual social security taxable income of young people is less than half that of seniors.

Civil servants were 3.56 million in 2014 and will be 3.74 million in 2024: the year with the highest growth was 2020 with an increase of +2.5%, largely due to the recruitment of school staff and health professionals to cope with the pandemic, then followed by the resumption of public competitions. The average annual salary was EUR 31,646 in 2014 and EUR 35,350 in 2024: this is a growth rate of 11.7% over the entire period, corresponding to an average annual growth rate of 1%, which is significantly lower than that of private employees.

The average salary of civil servants is permanently 10-11 thousand euro higher than that of private employees, also due to a higher average number of days worked in the year.

Between 2014 and 2024, the School, University and Health sectors saw an increase in the number of employees, while all the others declined over the decade. As far as salaries are concerned, the School sector is the one that 'pays' the least, the only one well below the threshold of EUR 30,000 per year (an average of EUR 25,311), also due to the discontinuity of working relationships (just over 260 days per year on average). On the other hand, the highest average salaries are to be found in universities and research institutes (EUR 52,931).

In the gender structure, there is an increase in the share of women from 57% in 2014 to 61% in 2024. The gender pay gap is confirmed: the average annual pay of women is 77% of that of men. This is only partly explained by the lower number of average paid days for women (279 in 2024) compared to men (288).

The distribution by age group shows an ageing of the workforce (despite the unblocking of recruitment also as a result of the PNRR projects) with an increase in the percentage weight of seniors, the over-55s rising between 2014 and 2024 from 30% to 37%. The younger age group is growing, albeit to a lesser extent, from 4% to 7%. The average salary rises sharply with the age of the workers: a young person earns slightly more than half as much as a senior.

The negative effects on real incomes of the post-2020 inflationary flare-up were partially recovered by an increase in employment for the relatively poorer households, i.e. those in the lowest consumption quintile. With the shift of employment towards lower value-added services, workers who entered the labour market after the Covid crisis are mainly young, with a low level of education, most often residing in the South.