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EMPLOYMENT

Italy ends ban on laying off employees during Covid-19 crisis

Italy's government on Wednesday approved a deal between trade unions and employers, ending the country's ban on layoffs while keeping some protections for certain workers hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

Published: 1 July 2021 12:22 CEST
Italy ends ban on laying off employees during Covid-19 crisis
A demonstration in Turin against business closues due to Covid-19 restrictions held in May 2021.Photo: Marco Bertorello/AFP

The freeze on firings introduced in February 2020 as Covid-19 hit Italy will be selectively lifted from Thursday, a government spokesman said following a cabinet meeting.

READ ALSO: ‘A million more unemployed’: Fears as Italy’s Covid freeze on layoffs set to end

The Bank of Italy estimates that Italy’s ban on lay-offs, unique among European nations, helped save 440,000 jobs last year amid the pandemic

Trade unions had warned that ending the layoff freeze as scheduled could lead to “a million more unemployed” in the country. 

But after tough negotiations, Italian unions this week secured a commitment from employers to use measures such as reducing workers’ hours before laying them off.

A state-funded scheme of part-time working for struggling firms was also extended for 13 weeks, and in return, companies that benefit must not to fire workers during this period.

As announced earlier this week, the freeze on lay-offs will remain until October in sectors hardest hit by the pandemic, such as textile, fashion and footwear.

For large companies notably in construction and manufacturing, the freeze will end as planned on Wednesday.

The eurozone’s third largest economy was plunged into a deep recession last year by the pandemic.

READ ALSO:

The European Commission this month denounced the Italian ban on layoffs as “counterproductive” as it protects employees on long-term contracts but not those in more precarious jobs – notably women and young people who have so far felt the brunt of the economic problems in Italy.

It asserted that in France and Germany, which instead offered financial support for people whose hours were cut by struggling companies, the effects of the pandemic on employment have been less severe than in Italy.

Despite the ban, there were 550,000 layoffs in Italy in 2020, as those related to disciplinary issues or the closure of companies were exempt.

There are also hundreds of thousands of workers in more precarious jobs whose contracts were not renewed.

In total, almost a million jobs were lost last year in Italy.

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QUALITY OF LIFE

Cost of living: How does Italy compare to the rest of the world in 2022?

Italy has recorded lower costs of living than the UK and US so far for 2022 after outstripping both last year. Here's a closer look at how everyday outgoings compare.

Published: 24 January 2022 12:37 CET
How Italy stacks up for cost of living compared to the rest of the world.
How Italy stacks up for cost of living compared to the rest of the world. Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP

It’s a common belief that the cost of living in Italy is generally cheap and cheerful, and this is often thought to explain the nation’s comparatively low wages.

However, Italy in fact outpaced both the UK and the US for living expenses last year, ranking as the 26th most expensive country in the world.

Good news for those living in or travelling to Italy this year, though – the latest figures for 2022 show that Italy has now slid down the scale, behind the UK and US, coming 32nd in the global ranking, according to Numbeo’s Cost of Living Index for 2022.

It is classified as being cheaper than France (19th), the UK (26th), the US (27th), and the famously expensive Switzerland – which was ranked second most expensive in the world for the second year running. And once again, Bermuda placed first.

The survey was compiled using the notoriously expensive city of New York City as a benchmark. New York was given an index score of 100. So a country with a score higher than 100 is more expensive than New York, while below signals that it is cheaper.

READ ALSO: The parts of Italy where house prices keep rising despite the pandemic

Italy scored 66.47 overall. It has got cheaper for groceries, dropping four places in the global scale and is now around 12 percentage points cheaper than the US, but is still more expensive than the UK.

While people in Italy have seen energy prices surge in January, with a knock-on effect on food prices and other costs, the same has also happened in many other countries.

Italy ranks 34th for a food shop compared to 36th place for the Brits. But it is cheaper than the US (19th), Canada (20th) and Australia (9th).

Compared to its European neighbours, you’ll pay more at the till for your weekly groceries in France (16th), Denmark (22nd) and Austria (26th). On the other hand, Italy is more expensive than Germany (41st) and Spain (54th) for supplies to stock your fridge.

In a separate recent survey specifically focussed on this aspect of living costs, Italy was in fact much higher up the scale for the cost and affordability of a grocery shop.

The findings from Net Credit are based on not just supermarket prices, but they also consider income. Researchers calculated the affordability of a basket of goods in each country as a percentage of the average daily wage.

Italy’s groceries can be expensive when you factor in the average salary. Photo by Axel Heimken / AFP

The shopping basket they surveyed focused on ten staples including breakfast cereal, eggs, cheese, milk and bread.

Factoring this in, Italy ranked 15th most expensive worldwide for the cost of groceries, calculated as being 33 percent of a daily salary.

Common expenditure prices in Italy

  • Milk – €1,15
  • Loaf of fresh white bread – €1,56
  • Local cheese (1kg) – €12,24
  • Beef (1kg) – €14,68
  • Bottle of wine (mid-range) – €5,00
  • Domestic Beer (0.5 litre draught) – €4,50
  • Meal per person at low-cost restaurant – €15,00
  • Three-course meal for 2, mid-range restaurant – €55,00
  • Monthly pass on public transport – €35,00
  • Petrol (per litre) – €1,62
  • Basic utilities (Electricity, gas, water, rubbish) for 85m2 Apartment – €162,79
  • Apartment rent (1 bedroom) in city centre – €588,95
  • Apartment rent (1 bedroom) outside of centre – €449,53
  • Price per square metre to buy an apartment in city centre – €3,092.74

Numbeo’s Cost of Living index, weighs up average estimates for expenses for a four-person family, ranging from clothing, groceries and dining out to transportation, recreational activities and utilities.

And its rent index is based on the costs of renting one- and three-bedroom apartments in and outside of city centres.

For this category, Italy ranked 44th out of 139 entries in total worldwide, compared to 37th last year. It again comes behind Spain, the UK, the US and Canada.

READ ALSO: The ten positives you’ll notice after moving to Italy from the US

Italy was found to be eleven points cheaper than the UK on average compared to eight points last year, and over 20 points cheaper than the US when it comes to rental accommodation.

Photo: Jürgen Scheeff on Unsplash

Restaurant bills – which were found to be higher on average in Italy than France, Germany, the US and the UK last year – have become relatively cheaper in 2022. Italy recorded around six percentage points lower than the UK for dining out, whereas it’s now about the same compared to the US.

It is still much more expensive than Spain, coming in at around 17 points more costly for eating out.

According to Numbeo’s country profile, the average Italian monthly salary after tax is €1,443.39 compared to $3,596.78 (€3,176.10) in the United States and £2,011.40 (€2,400) in the UK.

While salaries are lower in Italy and many living costs don’t differ greatly between Italy, the UK and the US, you can at least bank on a cheaper cappuccino in Italy.

On average, it will set you back €1.40 in Italy, compared to €3.87 in the US and €3.34 in the UK.

These three countries don’t differ that much for a three-course meal for two in a mid-range restaurant, costing between €53 and €59.

Certain produce is more expensive in Italy such as local cheese and meat, but it costs less to use public transport overall.

Monthly utility bills were recorded as being higher in Italy than the US, but not the UK.

READ ALSO: Rising energy prices: How to save money on your bills in Italy

Meanwhile, average private monthly childcare costs in Italy are cheaper compared to the UK and US, based on one child attending full-time.

In its Cost of Living City index for 2022, Milan has ranked the highest for Italian cities coming in at 117th place out of 578 cities worldwide. It’s followed by Parma (148th) and Genoa (149th). Rome came 177th.

Parma recently came first in the country in a survey on the best and worst places to live in Italy. It took the title for its healthcare, work and business opportunities, level of environmental protection, life satisfaction levels and how it managed the Covid-19 pandemic.

READ ALSO: The very best Italian towns to move to – according to people who live in them

Previous European studies have shown the cost of groceries, eating out, internet and communications to be relatively high in Italy.

Within Italy itself, there can be huge regional differences. Broadly speaking, the north of Italy tends to be more expensive than the south, and cities pricier than rural areas.

Milan is notorious for high rents, as are tourist hotspots including central Florence and Venice – and generally speaking people living in these areas will face higher costs for most goods and services.

But average recorded prices are brought down by the fact that it is relatively cheap to rent in small towns and villages, while the cost of services can also be markedly lower outside the major Italian cities.

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