Milan, 15 Jan. (Adnkronos) – “Edison’s company social housing project ‘A home for young people’ was created to provide immediate and concrete help to young graduates, whom we hire in all Italian offices, regardless of the type of degree they have, so that they can have a home close to the office where they work. It is a project that is functional to putting them in a position to start, in addition to a professional project with our Group, also a personal life project, having to pay a rent that, including utilities, does not exceed a third of the first job income that we guarantee”. Thus, Edison’s HR and ICT director, Giorgio Colombo, illustrated to Adnkronos the company social housing plan ‘A home for young people’, launched by the company, an energy company that has contributed to innovation and development in the country for 140 years. ()
The initiative is part of a broader commitment by Edison as a responsible operator that provides a three-year development and training program for the youngest, working methods that guarantee a balance between personal and professional life, a salary dynamic that rewards merit and a supplementary welfare system, enriched since September by the initiative 'A home for young people'. "We want to create the conditions so that young people can stay in the cities where they studied to work with Edison and can start their own personal life project, as well as professional - explains Colombo - This is very important for us, because we invest a lot in young people starting from their university education, therefore, we are interested in them remaining for a significantly extended period in the company, not only because it is functional to their growth, but also because it is functional to the important investment that Edison makes to train them and make them grow".
The 'A Home for Young People' plan is aimed at recent graduates who do not have accommodation other than that of their home community. Edison gives them the opportunity to rent a furnished two-room apartment, in an area that is within half an hour of their workplace and connected by public transport. An external partner specialized in real estate rentals takes care of the search, identification and contractual and administrative management of the residential rental as well as all the utilities connected to it. The young person is required to make a monthly contribution to expenses which, also considering the utilities to be paid by the young person, is considered sustainable and has a value not exceeding one third of the net salary.
The rationale behind Edison's initiative, therefore, is to invest in young people. "Unfortunately, we have noticed in recent years a growing problem of difficulty for young people, especially those who studied in metropolitan cities, to remain professionally in these places, as the cost of living, and in particular of housing, becomes increasingly unsustainable even compared to a good first-job income," he emphasizes. "This often leads to a choice, sometimes for economic reasons, to flee Italy and work abroad, because the first job in some European countries guarantees a salary that, compared to the cost of living, is much more interesting than what is offered in Italy."
"Therefore, we intervened to address the issue of housing needs so that they can afford the cost of rent in a metropolitan city in relation to their income. In this way, we make the choice to stay and work in the city where they studied possible and sustainable, mitigating the need for a decision dictated exclusively by economic reasons of a work experience abroad - continues Colombo - We need these young people, once they have finished their studies, to choose to stay in Italy, starting a project with us and that, once they have joined, they continue to stay in the company for the time we consider adequate and reasonable, so that they can grow and the company can have a return on the large investment it makes in them".
Compared to other large European countries, Italy has a negative import-export balance of young graduates and this data is also directly linked to the housing problem. In this regard, Colombo underlined that "the Italian system, fortunately, has understood that housing is a huge problem for the entire country, which contributes to the important migratory flow of young Italian graduates abroad, which has reached significant figures in the last ten years. Another significant problem is the demographic decline. The country needs to start investing again in young people in general and in particular in those with a high level of education. In the latest budget law there are already important signals in this direction, as hoped for by the business system through Confindustria. In fact, support for young people under 36 for the purchase of their first home has been extended, an important guarantee fund that should possibly become structural".
For Edison's HR and ICT director, these are measures that go in the desired direction but, at the same time, require two conditions. "The first is to be structural over time - Colombo specifies - and the second is the ability to combine the need for immediate support with long-term future planning, through a building plan that, even with the regeneration of the assets, which are currently poorly used, can gradually provide affordable housing solutions that satisfy this need with a medium-long term perspective. Our intervention is an immediate response while waiting for a country system process that provides structural development".