How the foreigners’ occupations in Italy are evolving: an analysis across generations and genders

Abstract

In 2024, the number of employed persons with foreign citizenship returned to growth, after the previous year's stability, reaching about 2.5 million, 10.5% of total employment. Foreign employment has always been characterised by higher employment rates than the Italian component, but this advantage has gradually decreased over the last ten years, particularly since the pandemic: while in 2014 the employment rate of foreigners aged 15–64 exceeded that of Italians by about 3 percentage points, in 2024 the two rates were almost identical (62.3% vs. 62.2%).

Several studies show that in Italy the advantage of foreign citizens in employment is linked to their ability to intercept a labour demand with characteristics of greater flexibility, lower qualification and lower remuneration. Moreover, migratory networks contribute to feeding the concentration of employment in certain sectors, through replicated schemes of information dissemination, knowledge and support between relatives and co-nationals. For these reasons, the dynamics of the labour market by citizenship is particularly linked to the sectors of economic activity in which foreigners are most employed, to the sectoral skills of the different communities, as well as to the different composition by gender found within them.

This study aims to analyse whether the approximation in employment rates between foreigners and natives between 2014 and 2024 corresponds to a change in the occupational structure of employment, despite the fact that the foreign labour market is still strongly segregated. Using data from the Labour Force Survey conducted by Istat, the analysis will identify changes in foreign presence in specific occupational groups, taking into account gender, country of citizenship and age also through a multidimensional analysis.