According to the MECSPE Observatory in Q1 2024, one in four companies rely on students from ITS and universities to increase their skill set and more than 6 in 10 companies plan to integrate new staff within the year. Employee training is crucial for maintaining competitiveness; therefore, the incentives of the Transition 5.0 Plan will be increasingly important.
Italian manufacturing continues to push forward, with a clear determination for growth—nearly 7 out of 10 entrepreneurs expect to grow within two years—despite recent difficulties related to the international economic environment, rising prices, and the effort in finding human resources, an issue that concerned 54% of entrepreneurs in Q1 2024.
The answer to this critical issue comes from ITSs and universities: one in four companies are counting on their students to increase their skill set—a figure that is up from the previous quarter—and, in order to encourage new talent to join their company, 42% of companies have already activated partnerships with ITSs and universities, while 34% will do so within the year.
This is the scenario outlined by the MECSPE Observatory on the Italian Manufacturing Industry [1] referring to the first quarter of 2024.
The research was conducted by MECSPE, a landmark exhibition for manufacturing organized by Senaf and scheduled to be held at BolognaFiere March 5–7, 2025, in conjunction with METEF.
Active for more than two decades in supporting the supply chain within a rapidly changing economy, MECSPE represents a key event for the Italian manufacturing sector, not only as a showcase of the latest technological innovations but also as a crucial bridge between business and education.
Synergy between businesses and schools to bridge the resource gap
For almost half of entrepreneurs, the imbalance between supply and demand in the manufacturing sector remains a major concern.
The vast majority of them (65%) want to incorporate new resources into their workforce by the end of the year and to do so, a growing number of companies understand how important it is to rely on ITSs and universities to recruit new talent, also to take advantage of training which is increasingly focused on digital technologies.
For companies, in fact, increasing their skill base is crucial: 57% of them plan to bring in very young resources, either from ITSs and universities or to be trained once they join the workforce, by the end of the year.
New skills to serve businesses
Having up-to-date skills, especially digital ones, is crucial in a period marked by the 5.0 transition that all businesses must address to remain competitive, especially in terms of innovation.
In this regard, 45% of the sample considers the skills of their staff to be fairly or very much in line with the company’s needs. However, in contrast to this, 41% consider the knowledge of their workers to be only moderately aligned with the needs of the company, and 14% consider it inadequate.
To enrich this skill base, better respond to business needs and thus increase the level of efficiency, companies are focusing not only on new hires and young talent from ITSs and universities with new skills, but also on in-house training, which remains the preferred tool: more than 7 out of 10 entrepreneurs have already started in-house training courses or plan to start them in the coming months. But there is also a good share of those who will hire, or have already hired, trained staff (29%).
More attention to the training issue will also be provided by MIMIT‘s recently approved Transition 5.0 Plan, which will allocate €6.3 billion for Italian companies’ digital and energy transition. These funds will, in part, cover this area as well; in fact, investments are planned for Staff Training to acquire skills in technologies relevant to the implementation of the digital and energy transition, although, according to the Q1 2024 MECSPE Observatory, only 29% of those who will apply for incentives count on investing in this area.
«The involvement of ITSs and universities is essential, both to recruit new talent that the industry needs and to prepare the next generation for the challenges of the 5.0 transition» says Maruska Sabato, MECSPE project manager.
«We firmly believe that investing in continuing education and skills upgrading is the key to keeping our companies’ competitiveness high, and with the incentives of the Transition 5.0 Plan, companies have a unique opportunity to train their staff on emerging technologies, ensuring a workforce that is always at the cutting edge. Our fair stands as a privileged meeting point between companies, young talents, and educational institutions, making a significant contribution to bridging the gap between demand and supply of skills. In this sense, MECSPE is an ideal context for facilitating collaboration between the worlds of education and work, creating an ecosystem in which innovation is fueled by quality training. We are proud to be able to contribute to this dialogue and support the industry in its evolution toward Industry 5.0.»
Facts and figures of MECSPE BOLOGNA 2024
66,906 trade professional visitors, 92,000 square meters of exhibition space, 2,000 companies, 2,000 square meters of MECSPE LAB – Spazio Innovazione along with 18 special initiatives and 72 conferences.
[1] MECSPE Observatory on the Manufacturing Industry conducted by GRS Research and Strategy on a sample of 1257 Italian manufacturing companies with CAWI methodology during June 2024.
