A report from Osservatorio Eban-Nomisma shows that, after many years, the number of foreign workers has finally dropped by 5% in 2017 to 275 thousand.
The study illustrates an overall growth of employment in agriculture, registering a 4% increase of laborers (little over 1 million) and a 6% increase of days worked (110 million). The sector is only second to tourism.
In Italy there are 188 thousand companies hiring workers, a positive trend also confirmed for 2018.
There is an increasing presence of seasonal workers. Fixed-term workers represent 90% of the total, i.e. a 6% increase between 2012 and 2017, while permanent workers have dropped by 8%. While the increase in employment was of 13 and 6% respectively in the north and in the center, it dropped by 1% in the south.
The same goes for days worked with +11% in the center and in the north and +2% in the south. As for foreign workers, 26% of agricultural workers come from abroad - 49% come from the EC (75% Romanian) and 51% come from outside the EC (42% African).
Source: Ansa