Italy has witnessed a significant surge in the demand for migrant workers, as the country received a whopping 238,335 applications within just one hour of launching its online application system. The number of applications has surpassed the eligible places available for migrant workers under the country’s quota system. The official quota provides for just 82,705 placements, and Italy saw three times as many requests as stipulated in the decree on migrant flows for this year, according to a report by Info Migrants.
The online tool was entirely overbooked on the first day, and more than 240,000 applications were uploaded onto the platform by the evening. The Coldiretti Farmers’ association has urged for another decree to permit new entry quotas, as at least 100,000 workers are still missing to fill the labor shortage noted in the field of agriculture. Coldiretti President Ettore Prandini said, “In the countryside, with the arrival of spring, there is a need for over 100,000 workers to fill the labor shortage that hit the countryside hard last year with significant loss of crops.”
Labor Minister Elvira Calderone has stressed that the government is concerned about this issue and that the Ministry is looking at broader planning to understand whether it has to intervene again. Territories suffering from labor shortages include Trentino and Vento, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lazio, and Campania. “We have to look at a more complex issue, the intersection between demand as well as offer for employment, which is obviously not only connected to the theme of migration and how to manage the employment of immigrants but more in general to the integration of all those who are outside the (labor) market today,” Minister Calderone pointed out.
However, authorities in Italy are facing challenges managing an influx of migrants who attempt to enter the country illegally. Over 5,600 migrants entered Italy’s southern coast this past weekend alone, as per a report by InfoMigrant. ANSA, the Italian News Agency, revealed that over 3,000 migrants entered the Italian island of Lampedusa for a period within two days. The same source noted that authorities detected about 27,000 boat migrants in Italy since the beginning of this year, which is a fourfold increase compared to the figures recorded in the same period last year, when 6,543 migrants reached Italy illegally.
To tackle the situation, authorities in Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia have reached a trilateral agreement to tighten border controls and prevent illegal migration. The intersection between demand and employment opportunities is a complex issue that needs to be addressed in the long run to ensure the proper integration of workers into the labor market.
