Intervention

Towards stagility: combining stability and agility in the changing world of work

A model integrating technology, flexibility and a sense of belonging to meet market challenges and workers' expectations

by Matteo Zanza* and Stefano Besana**

16 December 2025

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

For several years now, the world of work has been undergoing an unprecedented transformation. Technology accelerates change, the artificial intelligence forces us to rethink organisational boundaries and undermines authorship. In addition, organisations reinvent themselves, the meaning and direction of work change and workers' expectations evolve rapidly.

In this context, the connection between the person and the organisation - a key element for performance and engagement - risks weakening, failing to answer some of the questions people ask about the meaning of their work.

This is the background to the concept of stagility, introduced by Deloitte's Global Human Capital Trends Report 2025, i.e. the ability to simultaneously create stability for workers and agility for organisations, with the aim of reconciling the different challenges that the market presents us with. We need new 'anchors' that allow people to belong, to feel rooted, while operating in fluid and rapidly changing contexts.

In the Italian scenario, the data confirms this tension anticipated by our research, since in September 2025 the employment rate according to ISTAT remained stable at 62.7% and permanent contracts recorded a positive balance of +325,000, while fixed-term contracts decreased, in addition to the more flexible forms such as intermittent work, which grew (+29,000) according to the data released by INPS. Istat also pointed out that contractual wages grew by 2.6 per cent year-on-year, but real purchasing power remained 8.8 per cent lower than in 2021.

New landmarks needed

In general, smart working and hybrid models are being consolidated, while the adoption of AI in Italian companies continues to grow, opening up new possibilities for organisation and collaboration. These numbers - and the many examples of companies that have reversed course on flexible working strategies - show that workers and companies perceive instability and need new points of reference: clear purpose, fluid teams, development paths based on skills and not on roles.

Precisely for this reason and to address instability, companies can act on three levels of 'anchoring'. On the first level to anchor work, i.e. to redefine it not by task, but by the actual value generated, with and without AI support. Indeed, it will be increasingly crucial to integrate AI and technology to support workers, improve processes and cross collaboration as well as foster multidisciplinary teams capable of rapidly adapting to business needs. On the second level, it is necessary to anchor the organisation, moving from rigid structures to fluid networks of teams oriented towards clear objectives, creating internal and external ecosystems to access different competencies and, at the same time, defining tangible missions and goals that offer stability even in dynamic contexts. Finally, it is necessary to anchor the worker, enhancing and bringing out skills, potential and passions more than roles or titles. In this way it will be possible to increasingly favour lateral growth paths and external opportunities, promoting internal communities and support networks that strengthen the sense of belonging.

The strategic advantage of an approach based on stagility reminds us that organisations capable of combining stability for people and structural agility achieve a dual benefit: higher engagement, innovation and improved performance, but also the ability to adapt quickly to unforeseen changes. Stability is no longer a given: it must be built through culture, organisation and technological tools, in a dynamic balance between certainty and potential.

In Italy, where digital transformation and AI adoption are accelerating but still lag behind the averages of other international markets, stagility becomes a critical lever to attract and retain talent, develop skills and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. The challenge, therefore, is certainly not to choose between stability or agility, sacrificing one of the two poles in favour of a aurea mediocritas, but to offer both at the same time, creating a work ecosystem capable of sustaining people and organisations over the long term.

*Human Capital Leader by Deloitte
**Partner Human Capital by Deloitte

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