The activities to promote apprenticeships continued by the Metropolitan City of Rome and Capitale Lavoro (in-house company for the Metropolitan City of Rome) as part of the Si,vale! program and the European Network of Cities for Apprenticeships. After the meeting of 22 June with metropolitan municipalities, trade associations and professional orders, in recent weeks the Metropolitan City of Rome has organized three discussion tables with Federalberghi, the Order of Accountants of Rome and Unindustria.
Objective: to present the Si,vale! program and to collect requests and suggestions to build together a path aimed at promoting apprenticeships in companies.
Federalberghi, worried about the slow recovery of the sector in Italy, already tormented by the anti-Covid closures and now aggravated by the imminent release of layoffs, asserted that apprenticeships are often not used due to a mere lack of information: few of them know the advantages in tax terms for companies, and few apply it.
The discussion table with the Order of Accountants of Rome, willing to organize training sessions for its members, was also fruitful. In order to facilitate the use of the apprenticeship, it becomes essential to first understand what are the critical issues encountered in the stipulation. For this it might be useful to activate a help desk, to support the Order, which can provide assistance in resolving problems. The proposal has already been included in the agenda among the next steps to be taken.
Beyond the information that is missing, however, what is really needed is a cultural change towards apprenticeships and on-the-job training, as emerged from the meeting with Unindustria. In fact, where there are large companies that often resort to this type of contract to hire their employees, smaller ones still encounter great resistance, often of a cultural nature, precisely. In many cases, it is not clear what the usefulness of investing in training in the medium or long term might be.
Changing the perception that public opinion has about apprenticeships and training in the company - mistakenly considered second-class - therefore becomes fundamental. And it is along this line and with this objective that the next actions of the Metropolitan City and the Work Capital will continue.