Salaries: More than 43% of young people are below 1000 euros

If the nationwide average salary is around 2,000 euros gross per month, unfortunately Only a quarter of young people in Italy can receive a similar salary today. According to the latest report from CleverConnectYoung people’s salaries are significantly lower than in Europe and even among older workers.

The way in which they are published also complicates the situation job advertisementssometimes not very transparent when it comes to this compensation and from Workload. Many people turn down job offers for these reasons too. Nevertheless, we find ourselves in a historic moment where salary secrecy will soon be abolishedThis way, everyone can know whether and why their colleague’s work is equivalent to their own.

Young people’s salaries are becoming increasingly lower

CleverConnect has put together a survey in collaboration with YouGov on the current situation of young Italian workers. From what emerges from the data from the “Talent Acquisition Report“The situation is not the best at all:

43% would receive a net monthly salary of less than 1,000 euros, while 33% would earn a salary between 1,000 and 1,500 euros.

We want to advise you that, according to the information in the ISTAT annual report 2023The nationwide average salary for 2022 is estimated at around 27,000 euros per year. This threshold only seems to be possible for 24% of those surveyed, who would even have 1,500 euros net, but “below the threshold of 2,000 euros”, i.e. the amount with which they could cover the necessary expenses for living expenses for their family today. according to ISTAT estimates.

There is also a clear gap between the salaries of young people and those of older people. As reported by MEF income tax return 2020The Gross annual salary (RAL) is:

• between 25-34 years, from 25,818 euros,
• between 35-44 years, from 28,967 euros,
• between 45-54 years, from 31,252 euros.

Only those with a degree could enjoy a better RAL, ranging from 27,662 euros gross for non-graduates to 39,787 euros per year for graduates. even 47,000 if he has a Level II Master’s degree. Whenever the employment contract allows it. Another dilemma for young people is unstable salary. As reported in the analysis of the National Youth Councilaccording to INPS data, among workers under 35 “The frequency of fixed-term employment contracts is 23.5% and 10.7%, respectively, more than twice as high as among older employees (data as of 2020).“. Also in 2020 33% of workers under 35 had a part-time contractcompared to 25% of workers in the “older” groups.

Salaries are not transparent in job advertisements

Perhaps it is precisely because of this low pay that more and more young people want to look for “new opportunities”. No more job or suggestions: according to the survey “45% of potential candidates are employed, […] But he is open to new opportunities and can be “activated” by pursuing a recruiting strategy tailored to his characteristics and expectations.“. And even if the payment is transparent. One problem with the selection is the fact that many job advertisements hide or do not fully disclose data such as salary or workload.

The National Youth Council report also points out that “Only 32% of the advertisements surveyed contain information about the “expected” salary (80 out of 250), while more than two thirds lack such information.“. In fact, when searching for technicians/computer scientists, possible remuneration is only mentioned in 11.1% of advertisements. In cases where there is evidence of this data, the difference between the minimum value and the maximum value appears disproportionate: from ridiculous ads for 250 euros a month to “suspicious” ones like 5,000 euros a month.

A gap that once again illustrates the regional salary gap: The salary announcements (if transparent) are between 1,423 euros gross in the north, in the central-southern regions to around 1,000 euros (corresponds to 983 euros gross in the center and 1,007 euros in the south). It is no coincidence that 46% of talents do not consider job offers without information about compensation and even 39% would abandon the selection if it were not very personalized: “All age groups surveyed value pay, particularly baby boomers (49%) and millennials (48%).

Will salary secrecy solve everything?

By abolishing salary secrecy, the problem of young people’s salaries could perhaps be (partially) solved. With EU Directive 970/2023, Italy will have time by June 7, 2026 to abolish it with a law ratifying the provisions of the directive. The end of secrecy allows you to not only learn about the salaries of your colleagues, but also the criteria by which this remuneration is determined. A step that also counteracts the gender pay gap, which Claudia Goldin, recently awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, has been dedicated to for many years.

But this abolition could still be a problem for companies. In addition to the risk that claims for damages will block the courts and drive companies into bankruptcy (Article 50 of the EU Directive we are talking about “full refund of back wages and related bonuses or payments “Nature”), as he specifies Pietro Ichino, interviewed at Corsarathe risk is rather that “[…] the harmonization of treatments, similar to what happens in the public service.. Added to this is the fact that the differentiations are verbalized and this makes the free attitude increasingly disadvantageous.

The issue of young people’s wages is far from being resolved, and probably not with instruments such as the minimum wage, since the CNEL (National Council for Economy and Labor) has assessed the proposal negatively and advocates the need to improve the CCNL instrument. But even though there are more than 90% of workers under CCNL, well a third of them have a gross wage of less than 9 euros per hour. Definitely inadequate in a time of price increases like these.