The hunt for AI talent: how much do they cost and how much do they bring in for Italian businesses?
Median labour costs are 74 per cent higher. Value added is also higher, but not to the same extent: +50 per cent
Young, small firms, on the hunt for skills. And willing to pay for them. Italian companies that have made artificial intelligence their speciality spend far more on staff than comparable firms: the median labour cost is 74 per cent higher. Added value is also higher, but not to the same extent: +50 per cent.
Investing in talent
According to the research, the reason behind this difference lies in the employment of highly qualified staff: the cost of talent. This is a gamble taken by companies, almost all of which were founded in the last ten years, which are now investing in skills and awaiting a return on that investment.
This snapshot is provided by the first map of the sector, produced by the University of Padua and InfoCamere for the Digitalmeet festival and presented in the Senate on the initiative of Senator Antonio De Poli, a member of the Senate’s Finance Committee. By the end of 2025, there will be 14,840 AI-focused businesses, ten times the 1,441 recorded in 2015. 72 per cent were established between 2021 and 2025, and 93.1 per cent are micro-enterprises. They employ around 105,800 people, over 22,600 more than in 2022.
In 2024, the median value added of AI-focused firms was 237,000 euros, compared with 158,000 euros for the control group, whilst the median value of production was 417,000 euros compared with 325,000 euros (+28.3 per cent). Median labour costs, on the other hand, stood at €256,000 compared with €147,000.
Increasing productivity
Labour productivity, measured as value added per employee, is also higher: 50,400 euros compared with 45,900, an increase of 9.8 per cent. The study attributes the higher labour costs to the ‘employment of highly qualified and well-paid professionals’.
