The compass

What should I do with my school-leaving certificate? 10 expert tips (based on data) to help you navigate your options after leaving school

Amidst false myths, (supposed) competition from Artificial Intelligence and the real demands of businesses, here is a guide to help you stay on the right track, compiled by Skuola.net in collaboration with Unioncamere

by School Editorial Team

4 September 2026

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4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

What to do after the Maturità? It is the Hamlet-like dilemma to which many recent school leavers have yet to find an answer. And time is definitely running out. How can you go about choosing your path? One possible answer may come from organisations such as Unioncamere, which studies trends in the skills required by the labour market through its Excelsior Information System. The Skuola.net portal has compiled the top 10 tips that can be drawn from this wealth of data and experience. In an interview with Riccardo Cuomo, Head of Labour Policy and Institutional Projects for Simplification at Unioncamere.

1. Follow the job: 3.7 million job vacancies over the next five years

Of course, one must first discover one’s passions and inclinations, and then pursue them, but at the same time these must be backed up by the figures: over the next five years, 3.7 million new jobs are expected to be created in Italia, over 80 per cent of which will result from generational turnover.
Ignoring these opportunities can be detrimental to both workers and their potential employers; this is why, every month, Unioncamere surveys thousands of Italian businesses to ask exactly what roles they need to fill and how many people they will struggle to recruit. On the Excelsiorienta platform, students thus have the chance to take the next step: aligning their interests with real market trends, rather than making a random choice.

2. Investing in STEM degrees is a sure-fire success from the outset

For STEM degrees (Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics), the recruitment difficulty – that is, the struggle companies face in finding the right candidate – often exceeds 55 per cent: this means that more than one in two jobs is at risk of remaining unfilled due to a shortage of graduates. In particular, companies are desperately seeking designers, data analysts and cybersecurity specialists.

3. There are also opportunities for graduates in Economics, Healthcare and Education

In addition to purely scientific subjects, the Economics and Statistics stream also offers excellent future prospects, as it remains the most sought-after, in absolute terms, for roles such as administration, marketing, finance, management control and data analysis.
Nor should the medical and healthcare sector be underestimated – there is always a great need for doctors, technicians, nurses and rehabilitation professionals – nor the Teaching and Training sector. Furthermore, these sectors are currently undergoing a significant ‘replacement’ of workers retiring due to reaching the age limit, which will generate a very high demand for staff in the coming years, ensuring rapid entry into the labour market for young people.

4. Not just university degrees, but also the ITS Academy

Many young people are unaware that there is an alternative route to university: the ITS Academies, which offer technology-focused post-diploma courses lasting two or three years. Excelsior data shows that this is one of the most effective routes of all for entering the world of work: the employment rate for ITS graduates is close to or exceeds 85 per cent one year after graduation.

5. Highly qualified graduates wanted in Mechatronics, ICT, Digital Technology and Energy Transition

Staying on the subject of the difficulty in finding suitable staff to carry out certain tasks, the average figure is significantly exceeded in certain key sectors such as: Mechatronics – where the percentage of potentially unfilled vacancies reaches 65–70 per cent of total job vacancies – ICT and the digital sector in general – where experts in networking, cloud computing and digitalisation – and the Housing and Energy sector – where professionals specialising in the green transition and energy efficiency in homes are particularly in demand.

6. There is also (a great deal of) demand for high school leavers

Another aspect that is often underestimated is that, in the coming years, the Italian labour market will take on more secondary school leavers than university graduates: this is what Unioncamere is seeking to convey to students via the post-secondary school guidance platform ‘Che ci faccio col diploma?’, where data from the Excelsior survey clearly highlights which school-leaving certificates are most sought after and which trades are in greatest demand.

7. ‘Heavy’ qualifications: when a technician is in greater demand than a graduate

When it comes to graduates, the hardest-to-find profiles are, once again, those trained in Mechanical Engineering/Mechatronics – currently the ‘heart’ of Italian industry – and in Electronics/Electrical Engineering – in very high demand for automation and the installation of advanced systems.
A diploma in Administration, Finance and Marketing (AFM) also remains a sort of ‘banker’s draft’ – former commercial technicians are among the most versatile and sought-after professionals by Italian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – as well as those in the sectors of Tourism, Food and Wine, and Hospitality – key drivers of our economy that suffer from a constant shortage of qualified personnel.

8. AI won’t take our jobs (but we’ll need to know how to use it)

There is, moreover, a structural factor to consider, which applies to virtually all sectors: Artificial Intelligence is not the future, it is the present: companies are not seeking AI to make staff redundant, but to boost productivity, particularly in an ageing Italia where the workforce is set to shrink. By now, almost 80 per cent of job roles require basic or advanced digital skills, whilst in some sectors AI has already had a dramatic impact on processes: from data automation in administrative services to predictive logistics, and from coding to system monitoring in the IT sector.

9. The professions ‘safe’ from the algorithm (thanks to soft skills)

There are, however, professions which the Excelsior data indicate as stable or growing because they require skills that cannot be replicated by a machine: the so-called ‘soft skills’ – empathy, flexibility, problem-solving – and high-level manual dexterity. More specifically, the jobs that currently appear to be the most secure seem to be those focused on personal care, across every possible sector – from nurses to beauticians to educators, to give a few examples – where interpersonal skills and emotional support are irreplaceable. Not forgetting, of course, high-end craftsmanship and the finest examples of ‘Made in Italy’ – chefs, restorers and tailors, to name but a few – where ‘artisan’ ingenuity and complex eye-hand coordination are still beyond the reach of algorithms.
And then there are the managers and specialists in the green transition, called upon to make crucial strategic decisions in rapidly changing contexts.

10. Not just for employees… there are opportunities for young entrepreneurs too

For young people, however, being an employee is not the only option: the Chambers of Commerce system manages the Register of Companies, which shows that there is a strong desire amongst young people to start their own businesses, particularly when it comes to innovation.
Every year, thousands of businesses are set up by people under 35, particularly in digital services, tech start-ups, precision farming and experiential tourism. This is also thanks to the Chambers of Commerce’s New Businesses Service (SNI), which is on hand to help turn a dream into a real business.

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