Federico Olivieri (29), a farm worker who had worked informally for years, was shocked to see a large building site next to his Sicilian home, with the training offered for the many specialised jobs needed.

The Webuild programme is one of many 'academies,' funded and run by businesses frustrated by the lack of skills among job seekers.

"We are proactive in our approach to the problem." Gianluca Grondona, Webuild's Chief Human Resources, Organization & Systems officer, said that the group would create the necessary skills if they weren't already available.

It is a global problem, but it is particularly acute in Italy. The country has the lowest employment rate of the EU, and its productivity has stagnated over the past two decades.

Eurostat data shows that despite a large number of people looking for work or not in the workforce, the vacancy rate in the first quarter 2024 was 2.5%, which is in line with EU average. In the same period, France had a vacancy rate of 2.8% and Spain 0.9%.

In a report published in June, the think tank Prometeia noted that vocational schools and colleges in Italy are less common than in other European countries. Even those that exist do not produce students who are qualified.

It said that too many students are still studying humanities and other subjects with a lower demand in the market.

The problem has become more severe with the rapid development of new technologies, as Rome invests in European-Union-backed infrastructure projects as part of its post-COVID recovery plan, worth about 200 billion euros ($214 billion).

Webuild, Fincantieri, Ferrovie dello Stato, and shipbuilder Fincantieri are among the big companies that have taken matters into their hands.

FS offers a wide range of courses to students, including specialized apprenticeships. It also works with schools and universities.

Adriano Mureddu is the Chief Human Resources Officer. He said: "As our company changes, so do skills, and we require specific capabilities. This is especially true when it comes digital and AI-based jobs."

TUNNEL-BORING

Olivieri was an agronomist by training, but he became frustrated with a series of underpaid, temporary contracts in the agricultural sector of Sicily, which had been undercut by imports of cheap citrus fruits.

He has joined Webuild’s programme in the past year, and is now working with tunnel boring machines on its site at Sicily's east coast.

He said: "The courses offer a great opportunity to those who want to learn new things... You can't afford not to take this chance."

Webuild plans to hire 10,000 people over the next 3 years, and aims at sourcing 3,000 of them from its work academies. The academies, located near its infrastructure sites in the south where unemployment is high, are very close to those work sites.

Lorenzo Esposito Corcione is a 19-year old who attended a nautical school in Genoa. He was one of the 80 Fincantieri employees hired after completing the 'Masters of the Sea" programme, which Fincantieri launched eight months ago. The program attracted 17,000 applicants.

Esposito Corcione, an electrician in the Monfalcone port on the north-eastern coast of Italy, said at the end his shift that he wouldn't have been here without the course.

There is a huge difference between what I learned in school and what's actually happening in the yard."

NUMBER PROBLEM

Italy is not only facing a skills shortage, but also a numbers problem. Italy has the oldest population in the world and the lowest fertility rate at 1.2 babies per woman. Meanwhile, baby-boomers from the 1960s have now retired.

Unioncamere, a business group, estimates that Italy will require between 3.1 and 3.6 millions new workers in the next five-year period.

ISTAT, the national statistics office, predicts that by 2050 Italy will have fewer than 5 million people and that more than a quarter of those will be older. In a wide range of industries from agriculture to tourism and construction, younger blood is desperately needed.

Giorgia Melons right-wing government quietly increased the quotas of work visas granted to non-EU nationals last year, from 36,000 in the previous years, to 452,000 over the next three years.

Italy has drawn workers from other EU countries despite having relatively low wages, but it hasn't helped to solve its skills mismatch.

The academies, training and other services offered by large companies are helping to alleviate the problem. People like Pasquale infante, 28, who just started work as a pipefitter at Fincantieri’s Marghera factory near Venice, have been given priceless opportunities.

He said that the programmes were good for both workers and companies, as they taught people the necessary skills. ($1 = 0.9351 euro) (Editing Gavin Jones and Alexander Smith).