Ukraine: workers leave Italy for compulsory conscription, first company difficulties

New difficulties are emerging for Italian companies, especially for small and medium-sized ones, and not only for energy supply or cost issues linked to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. This time, in fact, the problem follows an inverse logic: the phenomenon is that of Ukrainian workers who leave Italy to respond to the compulsory military draft of all adult males aged 18 to 60. According to what we learn, it was Alleanza Coop which also involved the Task Force set to work by the Minister of Development Giancarlo Giorgetti. Workforce, they explain, often also highly qualified, which the company does not intend to do without. The point, however, is also another: that the unions have asked employers, mostly SMEs linked to construction, to formally consider these absences as “unpaid” but with “the right to keep the job”. A ploy that in the short term would also be feasible for companies but which over longer times, such as those currently envisaged, say the cooperatives, “could cause problems of organization of production within companies”. The issue is debated in the trade union world but also in the business world in search of a solution. On the other hand, Italy is the country in Europe with the highest rate of presence of Ukrainian citizens: out of about 800,000 Ukrainians residing in the EU-27, over a quarter are in our country. And with the war the number increases by another 50 thousand citizens; in fact, many are finding hospitality in Italy, especially women and children already very present in Italy, about 177 thousand, 37% of all Ukrainian women in Europe as the latest Eurostat data explain. For men, on the other hand, the employment rate is 59.9%, lower than that of Italians (67.3%) and foreigners in Italy (74%).