Young people, the new hiring bonus

The Cohesion Decree rewrites the bonus linked to the hiring of young people, which replaces all previous measures linked to encouraging the employment of young people, which are no longer extended.

The new incentive concerns young people who are under 35 years of age and have never been employed on a permanent basis. The exemption does not apply to domestic work relationships and apprenticeship relationships. The exemption also applies in cases of previous employment with an apprenticeship contract not continued as an ordinary open-ended employment relationship.

The incentive works as follows: private employers who from 1 September 2024 and until 31 December 2025 hire under 35s (never employed on a permanent basis) with an open-ended contract of employment, or stabilise a fixed-term contract, are granted total exemption from the payment of social security contributions (excluding premiums and INAIL contributions) for a maximum of 24 months, up to the limit of €500 per month for each worker. If the hiring involves Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Basilicata, Sicily, Apulia, Calabria and Sardinia, the exemption increases to EUR 650 per month.

This incentive is compatible with the maxi deduction of up to 130% for new hirings provided by the first module of the tax reform. The company wishing to obtain the relief must not have dismissed employees in the six months preceding the incentivised hiring, and if after six months from the use of the incentive one dismisses, the bonus is revoked and recovered. The contribution benefits are recognised within the spending limit of EUR 34.4 million for the year 2024, EUR 458.3 million for the year 2025, EUR 682.5 million for the year 2026 and EUR 254.1 million for the year 2027. The recruitments estimated by the technical report are 60,500 for 2024 and 146,000 for 2025.