In Italy, the staff deficit is reaching critical levels, with several vacant positions due to a lack of candidates. A possible strategy for employers in finding workers could be hiring non-EU citizens (not residents in Italy). The Law 50/2023 converting Decree Law 20/2023 makes simpler the hiring of non-EU citizens by providing for further hypotheses in which employers can employ foreign workers without having to respect the quotas envisaged by the migratory flow planning, which has proved to be insufficient compared to the needs.

Deficit of non-EU citizens’ programming quotas

Employers, especially in some sectors, struggle to find the necessary personnel. This situation has prompted the employers’ associations to ask to be able to hire a higher number of non-EU foreigners who are not already resident in Italy.

The Italian Government, considering the lack of personnel, issued a Decree (DPCM 29 December 2022) which increased the maximum number of foreign workers allowed to enter Italy for work reasons in 2023, bringing the quotas up to 82,705 units, raising the number of non-EU citizens who can enter Italy for work reasons by approximately 13,000 units compared to last year.

However, on the day of the click day for sending requests for authorization for the hiring of foreigners, set for 27 March 2023, the Ministry of the Interior communicated through its institutional...