Tip on employment in the South main incentive for recruitment provided by the 2026 budget bill, under consideration by the Senate (AS 1689). It’s about partial discount social security contributions paid by employers who employ workers permanently or stabilize workers (excluding managers) in the Southern Single SEZ regionnamely in Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sicily, Sardinia. There is 825 million euros available for the three-year period 2026-2028. Details of benefits must be determined through an implementation decision that will take into account the impact of incentives provided by the Cohesion decision on employment (Legislation 60/2024), to employ the younger generation, women and the unemployed long-lasting in a unique SEZ. This latest incentive closes on December 31, 2025, which only applies to recruitment that will take place at the end of this year.
Starting January 1 2026, unless the APBN Bill is amended during the parliamentary process, the new incentives will remain in effect, but will not have a specific focus on the younger generation, and the old 50% discount from the contribution in effect since 2017 for employing workers under 30 years of age who have never had a permanent employment relationship. This latest assistance is valid for 36 months from recruitment and has a ceiling of 3 thousand euros per year.
Incentive encouragement
In the first half of 2025, recruitment of young people is driven by social security contributions 72,280up 58% compared to the same period in 2024. The year-end balance could be even more positive, if we consider the fact that the total contribution relief up to 500 euros per month The employment of people under the age of 35 as stipulated in the Cohesion Decree will only be implemented in May 2025, therefore one year after the law stipulates it. Therefore, there may be more applications in the second half of the year.
Incentives to recruit workers are certainly relevant to support youth employment, considering the fact that the unemployment rate in the 15 to 34 year age group remains high. 12.3%so it is double compared to the national average. And in the same age group it reached 22.6% in the South (Istat data refers to the second quarter of 2025).
Inadequate salary
However, apart from recruitment costs, there are other important issues facing the younger generation ranging from training to employment. One of which is insufficient wagesas highlighted by the Plus 2024 survey conducted by Inapp (National Institute for Public Policy Analysis), entitled “Youth’s (difficult) school-work transition”, conducted on a sample of 45 thousand individuals, representative of the national region, and published in September 2025.
