Welfare & HR Summit 2026: corporate welfare as a lever for growth in Milan

The 2026 edition of the Welfare & HR Summit, the event promoted by Il Sole 24 Ore and dedicated to the themes of work, human resources management and business organisation. At the centre of the meeting is the role of corporate welfare as a strategic tool for the growth of businesses and for responding to the social, regulatory and generational transformations underway.

The l will open with an interview with Marina Calderone, Minister of Labour and Social Policies.

In the first panel, dedicated to range benefits, smart working, hourly flexibility and incentives as prerequisites for good collective bargaining, speakers will include Pierangelo Albini, Director of the Labour, Welfare and Human Capital Area Confindustria, Rosario De Luca, President of the National Council Ordine dei Consulenti del Lavoro, Elena Panzera, National Vice-President AIDP and President of the AIDP Lombardy Group, and Walter Rizzetto, President of the Public and Private Labour Commission Camera dei Deputati. Immediately afterwards, Angela Avino, Chief Business Development Officer Satispay, will take stock of simplification and innovation for contemporary welfare.

This will be followed by the Focus Giovani - Una generazione in cerca di Welfare, with the intervention of Martina Mauri, Director of the HR Innovation Practice Observatory Politecnico di Milano, who will analyse the expectations, needs and new priorities of the younger generations in their relationship with work. Health, welfare and work-life balance are no longer marginal issues for the younger generation, but are becoming central elements in their expectations towards work. The most recent data show how the Z Generation is redefining the very concept of welfare, shifting the focus from economic remuneration alone to a broader system of protection, capable of accompanying the entire life cycle. According to the HR Innovation Practice Observatory of the Milan Polytechnic, 67% of young people consider corporate health services to be fundamental, and 57% also ask for support tools for their parents' health and care. A change linked to the ageing population, the reduction of public welfare and the increasing job uncertainty. On the social security front, the low subscription to pension funds among the under 35 highlights a structural fragility, to which companies and institutions are beginning to respond with new corporate welfare tools, second level bargaining and financial education courses.

Following this, the 'L'esperto risponde' space will be dedicated to the future of pensions, with a direct discussion with Fabio Venanzi, Chartered Accountant, Specialist in Social Security Law