CERNOBBIO (COMO) (ITALPRESS) – In a context characterized by accelerated technological transformations, industrial transition and increasing international competition for skills, loss of talent is a strategic challenge for the future of a country. This is what emerges from the Studio “Buy and contrast the phenomenon of loss of talents: the Roadmap for Italy”, realized by TEHA Group in collaboration with Philip Morris Italia and presented today in the 52nd edition of the Forum “The Scenario of Today and Tomorrow for competitive strategies” by TEHA, in a press conference that took part in the top management of TEHA Group and Philip Morris Italia, together with Giovanna Iannantuoni, Scientific Advisor.
The loss of talent is a strategic challenge for the competitiveness of Italy. In 2024 more than 141 thousand Italians transferred their residence abroad, of which about 45 thousand graduates, and in the last ten years the country has lost over 300 thousand qualified citizens. This phenomenon affects Italy’s ability to transform skills, knowledge and innovation into higher productivity and economic growth, generating an estimated cost of €7.2 billion per year for the formation of human capital that no longer contributes to the country system.
“The Firm identifies a concrete Roadmap of policy to strengthen Italy’s ability to retain, attract and value qualified talents, with the aim of relaunching productivity and supporting innovation and competitiveness of the country,” commented Valerio De Molli, Managing Partner & CEO of The European House – Ambrosetti and TEHA Group.
“People and their skills are a fundamental resource for the future of the country. The ability to value them depends on the quality of economic development, the strength of innovation and the opportunities we will offer to the new generations. For this reason, the loss of talent cannot be faced with isolated interventions, but requires a system vision and shared responsibility between enterprises, institutions and the world of training. From this awareness the Roadmap proposed by the Studio, which looks to talent not only as a matter related to the labour market, but as a strategic priority for the competitiveness and the future of Italy”, commented Pasquale Frega, Chairman and CEO of Philip Morris Italia.
“In the last 25 years, the Italian economy has shown an unsatisfactory dynamic of productivity, accompanied by a weak capacity for innovation and a progressive difficulty in fully enhancing the skills available. Economic theory and empirical evidence converge in identifying two fundamental motors of long-term growth: human capital and technological innovation. In this perspective, human capital is a form of productive investment and the contrast to the escape of talent lies at the centre of a broader strategy for Italian growth. The country must be able to offer an adequate ‘return of restoration, adopting an integrated approach, able to intervene along the entire life cycle of talent and that can make Italy a more competitive country in the global comparison for human capital”, commented Giovanna Iannantuoni, Professor of Political Economics and former Rector of the University of Milan-Bicocca.
In 2024 more than 141 thousand Italian citizens transferred their residence abroad, of which about 45 thousand, equal to 32% of the total, possessing at least one degree. Preliminary data for 2025 relating to the total number of expatriates from Italy show a resize post effects of the changes to the AIRE registry enrollment legislation (- 22.7% compared to 2024).
Over the past ten years the country has lost over 300 thousand qualified citizens, with an impact that goes beyond the demographic dimension and directly invests the competitiveness of the economic system. The loss of graduates generates in fact every year for the Italian State an estimated cost in 7,2 billion euros, attributable to the public expenditure supported for their formation, which rise to 10,7-11,4 billion considering also the potential added value not generated.
The phenomenon fits into a context characterized by some structural fragility of the country-system: stagnation of productivity, a still limited share of graduates compared to the main international benchmarks, a shortage of STEM skills and the difficulty in generating adequate professional opportunities for the most qualified profiles.
The results of the report show how the escape of talent is now considered a priority for the production system. 93.9% of companies consider the problematic or very problematic phenomenon for Italy, while about two companies declare a very significant impact on their business.
According to the companies involved, the loss of talent is mainly linked to low wages compared to the cost of life, indicated by 82.1% of respondents.
The survey also highlights how companies are already intervening to respond to the challenge of attraction and retention of talent.
To integrate the current regulatory framework, the Firm proposes a national roadmap to build an organic strategy that can act on the entire life cycle of talent, from training to entry into the labour market, from staying in Italy to returning from abroad.
The implementation of the Roadmap would allow potential recovery of up to about 119 thousand graduates by 2035 and a positive economic impact of up to 11.1 billion euros of additional annual GDP in the most ambitious scenario.
-Photo press Philip Morris-
(ITALPRESS).
