Labour between superbonus and incentives for hiring: Meloni-union meeting today

Ahead of 1 May, the premier, Giorgia Meloni , summoned the trade unions to Palazzo Chigi today. The occasion is to illustrate to them the upcoming measures being studied by the executive on wages and employment. The labour market is registering positive numbers, with an increase in employment, but women and young people are lagging behind.

At the table they will discuss the super deduction on hiring provided for in the first module of the tax reform. In fact, the inter-ministerial decree, Economy-Labour, is ready. The measure provides for a deductible share of labour costs of 120 per cent. An increase to 130% is envisaged for young people, women and those already benefiting from citizenship income. It applies to all companies, regardless of their corporate form, and to the self-employed. In the April Defam, the government predicted that this new form of incentive for stable employment, which took the place of some past hiring incentives that expired in December, could affect about 380,000 companies.

Another topic on the agenda is the Cohesion Decree, on which Minister Raffaele Fitto is working, which, barring any last-minute surprises, should be examined by the Council of Ministers the following day, Tuesday, and which includes a strong push on labour. On the plate are 43 billion of the 2021-27 programming to be allocated to labour, social and business support policies. And not only regional: with national co-financing, the available funds reach 74 billion.

In the draft of the Cohesion Decree there is a bonus for hiring young people, which consists of a 100 per cent contribution relief, up to EUR 500 per month, for two years in favour of companies that contract young people under 35 years of age, who have never been hired on a permanent basis, from 1 July 2024 to 31 December 2025. Also in the case of hiring disadvantaged female workers, from 1 July 2024 to 31 December 2025, a 100 per cent relief is triggered, within EUR 666 on a monthly basis, for 24 months. The third hiring bonus concerns hirings in the single Special Economic Zone for Southern Italy, again in the period from 1 July 2024 to 31 December 2025. In this case, the exemption is 100 per cent, within EUR 666 on a monthly basis, for 30 months.

The Cohesion Decree also includes a mini-package to push self-entrepreneurship with three measures. The first is called Autoimpiego Centro Nord Italia (Self-Employment Centre North Italy) and provides funding for economic initiatives to start up entrepreneurial and freelance activities, either individually or collectively, including those involving membership of professional orders or colleges. It is a voucher of up to EUR 30,000 for the purchase of goods for business start-ups (EUR 40,000 if digital goods or energy savings). The non-repayable contribution is 65 per cent for expenditure up to EUR 120 thousand, and 60 per cent up to EUR 200 thousand. The second measure is Resto al Sud 2.0, which provides for vouchers of up to EUR 40,000 in southern Italy and the areas of central Italy hit by the earthquake (EUR 50,000 for digital goods or energy savings). In this case, the non-repayable contribution is 75 per cent for expenditure of up to EUR 120,000, rising to 70 per cent for expenditure of up to EUR 200,000. And again: if by 31 December 2025 young people start up a business in strategic sectors for the development of new technologies and the transition to digital and environmentally friendly technologies, they can apply, for three years and in any case no later than 31 December 2028, for a 100% relief for themselves and employees under 35 permanently employed from 1 July 2024 to 31 December 2025, up to a maximum of €800 per month.