To address labor shortages in various occupations, the Italian region of Abruzzo has initiated training programs for migrants interested in pursuing careers in the restaurant industry. The course, which started in Manoppello Scalo near Pescara, is the result of a collaboration between the retailers' confederation Confesercenti, the training agency Cescot Abruzzo, and the community ‘Figlie dell’amore di Gesù e Maria’.

Reports that ten participants, aged 20 to 38, are attending the course. They will earn a regional diploma, qualifying them to work in restaurants, bars, and catering businesses. The students in the project, named HospItaly, come from Benin, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Tunisia, the Ivory Coast, and Mali.

Recently, the Bank of Italy urged the country's authorities to secure a sufficient number of international workers to address employment shortages across various occupations. Fabio Panetta, the governor of the Bank of Italy, emphasized the need to attract more workers from abroad to counteract the demographic decline. Panetta noted that by 2040, there will be 5.4 million fewer people of working age, even if Italy continues to admit 170,000 foreigners annually, as it does currently.

According to the Confartigianato Association, it is significantly difficult for Italian companies to find workers. The same notes that last year, Italian companies were ineligible to find 45.1 per cent of the needed workforce, which is equal to 2.484.690 unfilled positions, with an increase of 4.6 per cent compared to 40,5 per cent in 2022.

Confartigianato said that small businesses in 2023 had difficulty in hiring 48.1 per cent of their staff, while for artisans the share of unavailable workers increased to 55.2 per cent. Last year, the IDOS Study and Research Centre said that Italy would need more than 280,000 international workers a year until 2050, to deal with labour shortages, due to its ageing population.