Companies in Friuli Venezia Giulia are turning to foreign recruitment to combat the demographic winter. Just a few months after the conference promoted by the Ceccarelli Group dedicated to the demographic crisis and the growing difficulty for businesses in finding qualified personnel, the first results of a path that now involves more companies in the area are emerging. The common goal is to find new answers to the shortage of skilled workers while simultaneously building genuine integration pathways capable of creating value for businesses and local communities.
The first project was born in Ovaro, where the Udine-based Ceccarelli Group assisted an important partner company in the integration of six workers from the Filipino community, a number that is set to increase in the coming months. An initiative that combined production needs, hospitality, and the recovery of properties.
This path then continued with the Argentine community. After the institutional trip organised by Ente Friuli nel Mondo in January, the first family arrived at the end of May: husband, wife, and two children, now hosted in a renovated apartment in Tavagnacco provided by the Ceccarelli Group.
By the end of the year, the arrival of other families is expected, who will be welcomed in a recently purchased property in San Daniele del Friuli, where renovation work will soon begin to create eight apartments, six of which will have two bedrooms.
The same path is now being taken by Mec2, a metalworking company with around 40 employees based in Val d'Arzino, specialising in precision mechanical processing for third parties. Thanks to collaboration with Back to Italy, the Friulian startup that promotes the return to Italy of Italian citizens and descendants of Italians living abroad, the company has selected two qualified turners and millers from Argentina.
The issue of birth rates remains a difficult problem to manage and is at risk of worsening further in the coming years: many entrepreneurs are already complaining about the difficulty in finding staff, and the situation, especially among small and medium-sized enterprises, which have a significantly lower attractiveness to young people compared to larger companies, could worsen further.
The demographic winter cannot be fought solely with analyses, but above all with concrete experiences. The common goal is to find new answers to the shortage of skilled workers by looking abroad, while at the same time building genuine integration pathways capable of creating value for businesses and local communities.
The first project was born in Ovaro, where Ceccarelli Group has assisted an important partner company in the integration of six workers from the Filipino community, a number that is set to increase in the coming months. An initiative that has combined production needs, hospitality, and the recovery of properties.
This journey then continued with the Argentine community. After the institutional trip organised by Ente Friuli nel Mondo last January, the first family arrived at the end of May: a husband, wife, and two children, who are now hosted in a renovated apartment in Tavagnacco provided by Ceccarelli Group.
An integration that already looks to the future. Both children have indeed expressed the desire to undertake a training path and subsequent entry into the same sector, while by the end of the year, the arrival of other families is expected, who will be welcomed in a property recently purchased in San Daniele del Friuli.
Thanks to the collaboration with Back to Italy, the Friulian startup that facilitates the return to Italy of Italian citizens and descendants of Italians living abroad, the company has selected two qualified turners and millers from Argentina.
"In Friuli, finding skilled workers in machine tools, turners, and millers has become extremely difficult," explains President Damiano Collino. "In Argentina, we met professionals who were already doing the same job. We selected two people: one has already arrived, the second will join us in the coming months. For us, it means investing in the future of the company and the territory."
In this case as well, Mec2 has rented two apartments in Casacco di Vito d'Asio, covering the costs of accommodation, part of the utilities, and providing a car to facilitate the integration of the new collaborators, one of whom is a descendant of Friulian emigrants.
The experience of Ceccarelli Group and Mec2 demonstrates how even in areas characterised by a significant demographic decline and a chronic difficulty in finding qualified personnel, it is possible to build innovative models that combine economic development, social inclusion, and enhancement of the territory.