Italy Sees Employment Surge in Third Quarter as Open-Ended Contracts Rise

ROME: Italy witnessed a notable increase in employment figures during the third quarter of 2024, with the number of people in work rising by 517,000 compared to the same period last year, according to ISTAT. This represents a 2.2% increase year-on-year, driven primarily by a surge in employees with open-ended contracts and self-employed workers.

According to Ansa News Agency, the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) reported a quarterly increase of 117,000 people in employment, marking a 0.5% rise from the second quarter of 2024. The growth was attributed mainly to a rise in the number of individuals with open-ended contracts, which increased by 111,000 or 0.7%, and self-employed workers, whose numbers grew by 43,000 or 0.8%.

Conversely, the number of workers with short-term contracts experienced a decline, dropping by 37,000 or 1.3% over the three-month period. Year-on-year comparisons also highlighted a substantial decrease of 5.9% in people employed under short-term contracts.

The annual gro
wth figures were further bolstered by a 3.6% increase in employees with open-ended contracts and a 2.6% rise in the number of self-employed workers. This trend reflects a broader shift in the Italian labor market towards more stable employment arrangements, as noted by ISTAT.