Andrea Innocenti Italian small and medium-sized businesses are faced with the challenge of balancing two seemingly incompatible needs: the need to integrate young people into the workforce and the pressure of labor costs , which, according to the latest CNA data, are among the highest in Europe. A recent simulation, conducted on a typical five-employee company hiring a 25-year-old single, childless worker on a permanent contract, highlights how the actual price paid by the employer can far exceed the employee's net salary.
The simulation's result is surprising: to guarantee a young person a net annual salary of €24,000, the company must sustain a total expense of more than €43,500. In terms of cost-to-reward ratio, for every €100 net income received in the paycheck , the company's deficit can rise to €180.
This margin makes it clear why, as underlined by the national president of the CNA, Dario Costantini, Italy records the highest figure compared to the main European countries.
The European benchmark: Italy in comparison
A comparison with five other countries highlights the differences: Germany requires 178 euros for every 100 euros net, Portugal 171, Spain 170, France 166, while Ireland ranks significantly lower with 127 euros.
Converting these percentages into absolute values for a net salary of €24,000, the expenditure for an Italian company stands at around €43,500, compared to €42,800 in Germany, €41,100 in Portugal, €40,700 in Spain, and €39,900 in France. Ireland, with its lighter contribution structure, remains the only country to keep expenditure below €31,000.
CNA Emilia-Romagna raises the alarm: incentives go beyond incentives.
During the CNA regional assembly in Emilia-Romagna, regional president Paolo Cavini painted a complex picture of the Italian business landscape: "Unsustainable spending, the government must help us." Regional secretary Diego Benatti then added that business competitiveness depends on the strength of the regions , citing Emilia-Romagna as a "model of excellence for SMEs." Regional president Michele de Pascale emphasized that local companies' investment in research and development is more than double the national average, citing this trend as the key to sustaining growth.
Temporary incentives vs. structural costs
A key point of the debate was the effect of temporary incentives . The CNA proposed a contribution exemption of €6,000 per year for the first two years of employment. At that stage, the cost to the company would drop to approximately €37,500, but at the end of the incentive period, the price would rise to over €43,500, representing a 16% increase with no increase in the worker's net pay. Dario Costantini has repeatedly warned: "It's not enough to incentivize the hiring of a young person; their tenure within the company must also be made sustainable."
Marco Fortis, vice president of the Edison Foundation, noted that manufacturing SMEs, numbering 240 in Italy, are the cornerstone of the national economy and that their "stability is a long-standing issue." Elisa Ficarra, professor at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and coordinator of the regional AI Biohub, emphasized that artificial intelligence can become a driver for productivity even for small and medium-sized businesses, suggesting a possible way out of traditional cost pressures.
The meeting concluded with the presentation of the CNA Emilia-Romagna Award to Serena Opipari, a nurse at Sant'Orsola Hospital, for her heroic deed in Porto Corsini. The recognition represented a sign of hope: businesses are not just numbers, but part of a social fabric that requires both financial and human support.