Jobs, EU approves Italy’s 1.1 billion in state aid for employment of under-35s and women

Brussels – Supporting youth and female employment in Italy: That is the goal of the €1.1 billion in state aid to which the European Commission today gave its green light. For the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Marina Calderone, the European Commission’s yes “constitutes a success for the Meloni government and a great opportunity for the whole country. We will be able to give,” she added in a video on X, “new tools to young people and women to enter the world of work and from the combination of the various measures we count on creating up to 180 thousand new permanent jobs. Brussels pointed out that “the scheme contributes to the objectives of the EU’s social and employment policy and is partly financed by the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+).”

The scheme consists of two measures targeting young people under 35 who have never had a permanent employment contract and women who reside in the South and have not had stable employment in the last six months. The aid will support the most vulnerable groups of workers who experience higher levels of unemployment than other categories, such as workers over 35 or male workers, and “also addresses the problem of female unemployment in the southern regions, where the unemployment rate is significantly higher than in the rest of Italy and the EU average,” the Commission noted. More specifically, under the scheme, employers who hire by December 31, 2025, young people or women with an open-ended contract will be exempted from paying mandatory social security contributions. The maximum amount of aid is €650 per month per worker and €500 for young people residing in areas other than the South, and eligible employers will receive the aid for 24 months after hiring.

“Ensuring stable employment for young people and women remains a priority and a strategic goal for the European Union,” commented the European Commission’s Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera,
responsible for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition. “This €1.1 billion scheme will enable Italy to offer the workers concerned better job prospects and combat regional disparities,” she pointed out.

The Commission assessed the measure in light of EU state aid rules and concluded that “the scheme is necessary and appropriate” to promote “stable employment for those workers who face significant difficulties in entering the labour market or remaining active in it over the long term.” In addition, “the aid is proportionate in that it is limited to what is strictly necessary to encourage the stable employment of vulnerable groups of workers and to cover about 30 per cent of the employer’s wage costs,” and “it has sufficient safeguards to prevent abuse, such as firing existing employees to replace them with new employees and receiving support under one of the subsidised measures or for the sole purpose of reducing labour costs.” Finally, “the measures do not unduly distort competition, as the aid is limited in time and is open to all sectors of the economy.” On this basis, Brussels said yes.