Is the labour market slowing down? Not yet. But it is changing.
The economy is slowing, but the labour market is still holding up. This is one of the most striking apparent contradictions in Italy right now: on the one hand, clear signs of weaker growth; on the other, employment that, despite the first cyclical fluctuations, remains historically high.
According to ISTAT, in May 2026 the number of people in work reached 24,336,000, up by 228,000 compared to a year earlier, while the unemployment rate fell to 5.0%. The monthly snapshot, however, calls for caution: compared to April, employment decreased by 22,000 and the number of inactive people increased. This suggests that these figures should be read as the evolution of a labour market in transition, rather than as straightforward linear growth.
The macroeconomic context helps explain why. Confindustria’s research centre describes a slowing economy, weighed down by international uncertainty, more cautious household spending and more restrained investment. At the same time, however, the production system continues to benefit from investment linked to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, preventing a sharper downturn in the economic cycle.
It is against this backdrop that we should also read trends in labour demand.
According to the Unioncamere Excelsior information system, between June and August 2026 Italian companies expect to hire 1,536,330 people – still a very high volume, though slightly down on the same period in 2025. In June alone, 42.0% of planned hires are classified as hard to fill, with even higher values for technical roles, skilled workers and other highly qualified profiles.
The key question, therefore, is not whether companies are still hiring. The data clearly show that they are. The real issue lies elsewhere: finding the right skills. This is where the main tension in today’s labour market is concentrated.
In other words, work is not slowing at the same pace as the economy. It is changing in terms of composition, quality and the way demand and supply meet.
The national average, however, tells only part of the story.
At territorial level, the labour market takes on very different shapes. Local production specialisations, economic structures and skills availability make each area of the country distinct.
We see the same pattern in AxL’s second‑quarter data. The analysis of almost 6,000 people placed in jobs shows a distribution that reflects the economic profile of each territory: production and manufacturing in the North‑West, logistics and supply chain in the North‑East, Ho.Re.Ca. and tourism in Central Italy, customer care and commercial services in the South.
Yet there is also a less visible, and perhaps even more significant, element.
The roles generating the highest number of placements do not always coincide with those that are hardest to find. Production and logistics continue to absorb most of the volumes, while healthcare and care work, highly specialised technical roles and, in many areas, tourism and hospitality show much higher recruitment difficulties.
This signals a labour market that is not only facing a quantitative shortage of people, but also a growing mismatch between available skills and those in demand.
That is why, today, it is no longer enough to look at how many jobs are being created. We need to understand where they are concentrated, which skills they require and why some profiles remain so difficult to find.
The national average shows the direction of change. Local data explain how that change is taking shape.
This is exactly the perspective behind Cruscotto Lavoro: not a simple collection of statistics, but a tool to read the labour market through data, interpret them in light of the economic context and understand how business needs and opportunities for people evolve, quarter after quarter.