QUALIFIED MIGRATIONS INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE ITALIAN CASE

Abstract:

In this short essay, I will try to contribute to analyze the question of qualified migrations from, to and within the European Union, not as a threat but as a very topical issue, emphasizing its positive and negative aspects. In times of high unemployment and quick social changes, the more legal migration represents a difficult cause to promote, the more it is important to manage it within a framework transparent, strictly objective and oriented to the interests of the EU citizens. Italy, as an immigration and an emigration country, represents a significant case history. Notwithstanding an evident shortage of skilled workers, from one side migrants’ insertion is just replacing Italians in the deficit and less attractive sectors, following a spontaneous “subaltern placement model” that in any case ensures a benefit for the national budget equal to 2 billion euros in 2015. From the other side, the emigration of Italian graduates is increasing (even if its quantitative dimension is not easy to ascertain), contributing at lowering the unemployment rates but also producing an annual loss equal to 1% of GDP. In both cases, the real problem seems to consist in the absence of a strategy capable of attracting and enhancing skilled workers in various sectors and this happens because currently – notwithstanding the shortages - the productive sectors seem apparently “trapped in a poorly qualified balance” and are not so dynamic as to employ the new Italian graduates and take advantage from those arriving from abroad.

Keywords:

Migration, skilled workers, European Union, Italy