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“How many? At least a dozen.” “The search can last six months, even a year.” “Twelve open positions out of 200, and they can’t be found at all”. Claudia Mona (aerospace), Luigi Galdabini (machine tools) and Alberto Ribolla (plant engineering) operate in different sectors but have a common problem: finding personnel.
The obvious problem is that of the mismatch between supply and demand, in particular for the technical profiles, which in Varese is made even more serious by the “competition” from Switzerland and more generally by the demographic decline affecting the area.
It is no coincidence that this is precisely the theme at the center of the 2023 meeting of the Varese industrialists, with the president Roberto Grassi (re-elected at the helm of Confindustria Varese for another two years) to highlight the nodes created by the demographic autumn the projects to be developed to improve the attractiveness of the area, with the aim, among other things, of making Varese a wellness destination.
«The demographic projections to 2031 – explains Grassi – warn us that the province is progressively unbalanced. With an elderly population aged 65 and over which will reach 27.5% (against the current 24.5%), with an active population which could drop to 61.5% and a group of young people around 11%. Approximately one child for every 3 grandparents. The territories that are progressing are those that retain vitality, that have within them the enthusiasm and creativity of young people capable of always undertaking new initiatives and changing the world. We also badly need this in Varese. In the last 5 years alone, the number of people from Varese enrolled in AIRE (the Registry of Italians Resident Abroad) has risen by 18.4%, exceeding 65,000. It is as if the cities of Gallarate and Luino had emigrated together. And sadly, that’s not the only escape route. On another front, the Swiss one, we ‘lose’ about 32,000 people who cross the border every day as cross-border commuters. The equivalent of the city of Saronno».
Even more worrying in the province is the share of young NEETs, a pool of around 24,500 boys and girls (much more than the city of Tradate) between the ages of 15 and 29 who, for various reasons, are neither employed nor included in an educational path . Varese Wellness Destination.