The analysis

Veneto, Transition 4.0 and 5.0 drive productivity, competitiveness and employment

Fòrema report: 71.5 per cent of companies have invested in capital goods, digital and green technologies, but now we need regulatory certainty and planning

3 May 2026

PAOLA CARRON Presidente Confindustria Veneto Est

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Transition 4.0 and 5.0 have generated investments that have boosted productivity, competitiveness and employment in Veneto, but now uncertainty risks acting as a brake.

This was revealed by a survey by Fòrema, a training company of Confindustria Veneto Est, conducted on a representative sample of 1,000 companies in Veneto (three quarters from the provinces of Padua, Treviso, and Vicenza), 76% of which are manufacturing (32% engineering), mostly SMEs (75% between 10 and 249 employees), with an annual turnover between 2 and 50 million euros for 69.5% (over 50 million for 22.5%). In essence, the plans have had a positive impact on the digital and energy transformation of Veneto companies, but uncertainty over the new 5.0 plan is blocking investment.

The impact

In Veneto, 71.5% of companies have made investments in 4.0 and 5.0 plans, with an acceleration in the 2022-2025 period: this has resulted in a boost to productivity and employment, which has increased by +12.8% in four years, making 88.6% of companies more or much more competitive. But full effectiveness - the report points out - depends on a non-negotiable condition: simplicity, certainty of rules and a multi-year horizon.

The results show, first of all, a very high level of utilisation of the 4.0 (introduced by the Budget Law 2020) and 5.0 plans to support the digital and green transformation of the production system: 71.5% of the companies have made technologically advanced tangible and intangible capital investments, R&D activities and personnel training, taking advantage of the tax credit. Most investments are concentrated in the period 2022-2025 (87% of active companies). The volume is between EUR 100,000 and EUR 1 million for 70.2% of the companies, and exceeds EUR 1 million for more than a fifth (21.8%).

GIANMARCO RUSSO DG Confindustria Veneto Est

'These numbers tell us one thing very clearly: when instruments are stable and accessible, companies do business and invest, with benefits for innovation, productivity and employment. This is the meaning of a real industrial policy for the country,' says Paola Carron, president of Confindustria Veneto Est. Companies need certainty, continuity, and consistency of policies; they ask for incentives to be stable, easy to use, and timely. We warmly welcomed in the Budget Law 2026 the new hyper-amortisation for investments that can be subsidised from 1 January until 2028. But four months after its entry into force, the potential of the rule remains unexpressed and the investment decisions of many companies frozen, in the absence of the implementing decree with technical clarifications on the measure. The first drafts, moreover, increase the mandatory communications for companies, instead of simplifying them. How is it possible to be in the same situation as in 2025 and not to have capitalised on that frustrating experience for the production system?".

In a geopolitical scenario 'that weighs on growth prospects and requires rapid and concrete responses, each week of uncertainty affects companies' planning and paradoxically becomes a brake,' Carron points out.

Investments

Companies invested in improving productivity and process efficiency (86%), energy and environmental efficiency (67%), strengthening competitive advantage and access to new markets (55%), and upgrading obsolete machinery and equipment (39%). Among the investment areas, digital software and systems prevail (for 77.6% of companies), interconnected capital goods (for 69.2%), 4.0 training of personnel (53.8%), Iot sensors and data analytics (51.8%), with automation, robotics and energy efficiency also playing a significant role.

Technology - is the key interpretation - does not replace man, but increases work and qualifies skills. For 66.7 per cent of the companies, 4.0 and 5.0 investments have favoured a growth in the workforce (significant for 24 per cent) or maintained jobs otherwise at risk (24.1 per cent). Overall, over the four-year period 2022-2025, companies expanded their workforce by +12.8% (8,000 new jobs among those in the sample). At the same time, skills are increasing: 72% have introduced new technical-specialist figures (digitalisation, automation), 61.5% have retrained their staff towards digital and green skills, 32.9% have hired experts in sustainability, energy.

burdens and uncertainty

Alongside these results, however, a decisive point of attention emerges: the incentive system is evaluated as good (51.8%) or sufficient (29.5%), but too variable and burdensome. The main critical points noted by the companies are regulatory complexity (36.5%), uncertainty of deadlines and rule changes (32%), excessive communication and fulfilment (26%). Among those who did not use the measures, the prevailing reasons were lack of projects (40%), lack of internal skills (34.4%), complex regulations (26.7%), and too burdensome procedures and bureaucracy (23.9%).

Looking ahead, the demand from companies is clear: to make the new Transition 5.0 plan a real industrial policy, regulatory stability and simplification are needed. 74.5 per cent call for stability of measures for 5-7 years, 67 per cent for more streamlined rules and obligations, and 45 per cent for more integration between investments in capital goods and personnel training. The areas to be incentivised most are energy efficiency (76.5%), digitisation and automation of processes (68%), training and skills development (digital, green, managerial, 55%). The tool considered most effective remains tax credit (78.5%).

"It is crucial that the positive path of discussion and listening with the government on the new 5.0 plan is carried through to the end," says Gianmarco Russo, director general of Confindustria Veneto Est. "We need stable rules, a multi-year horizon of at least five years, and a strong integration between investments in digital and sustainable technologies and people training. If we give companies a certain and stable framework over time, the new 5.0 plan will stop being perceived as a time bonus and can become a real medium-long term industrial policy'.