IT offers new job opportunities even for categories hit hardest by unemployment. All the stories and how it works.
Opportunities are growing for those working in digital: a unique opportunity for the categories most affected by unemployment. In particular, for those coming from the world of services (such as catering and commerce) where 93% of unemployment was concentrated in 2020. For bartenders and shopkeepers starting a new career as a software developer represents a concrete opportunity, as shown by the testimonials of the students of Aulab, the first Italian Coding Factory.
In the last two years the economic crisis has had a strong impact on the professions related to services that did not include the possibility of working remotely. According to ISTAT (Annual Report 2021 - The Country's Situation), these sectors - including catering and commerce - accounted for about 93% of the overall employment loss in 2020. At the same time, the skills of those who develop digital projects are increasingly sought after by Italian companies that are accelerating their digital transformation. It is not by chance that employment in the information and communication sector, which includes professions linked to web projects (0.9%), has increased.
The incidence of ICT professions has had an interesting growth, reaching 4.3% of total employment in EU27 in 2020 (in Italy 3.6%). For this reason, looking to the future, the European Union has foreseen that member states will allocate at least 20% of the 806 billion euros in grants and credits that will be provided under the Next Generation EU (NGEU) program in the period 2021-2026 to investments in digitalization.
The loss of employment can be partly compensated by the growing opportunities in the tech world, as it emerges from the data of the Osservatorio delle Competenze Digitali (Digital Skills Observatory), which estimates for Italy the presence of more than 100,000 available positions in the IT sector.
"We are noticing an increase in enrollments in the Hackademy course by people with backgrounds in the services and trade sectors: bartenders, restaurateurs, sales clerks and salespeople. People with a strong experience of contact with the public, who are looking for a new professional direction in the tech sector", reveals Davide Neve, CEO of aulab, the first Italian Coding Factory that, through the 3-month Hackademy course, allows anyone to qualify professionally as a web developer.
To demonstrate that, even with different backgrounds, it is possible to work in the world of computer science, are the testimonies of those who decided to undertake a training path to change their lives.
Valerio, from clothing to data base
After 10 years in the clothing industry, at the age of 30 Valerio, no longer feeling satisfied, has chosen to deepen his curiosity for the world of computer science. "During 2020 I decided to leave my job and I threw myself headlong into the study to train as a web developer - he explains -. I took some risks but it was worth it: immediately after the Hackademy I had interviews with five different companies and I had the opportunity to choose the proposal more congenial to me. Currently I deal with both back-end and front-end, creating management applications and working with databases. The most important skill I learned during the course is agile methodologies. It's a transversal concept: it's a methodology that is used everywhere there is teamwork to work better, in any field, not only in the programming one".
Antonio, from bartender to entrepreneur in the IT world
Academic at the Faculty of Herbalism, Antonio worked as a bartender during his studies. Not satisfied, he decided to leave the university to attend the Hackademy course. After completing the course, he started working as a freelance web developer, investing the earnings obtained in another passion: the opening of a cocktail bar. In 2021, following the pandemic, he decided to devote himself full-time to the profession of developer. "I chose to sell my business and start working full time in a tech company - says Antonio - All this without ever stop studying: during the pandemic I attended a specialization course on Javascript programming language. Now my dream is to start a second entrepreneurial activity, this time in the IT field".
Domenico, from call center operator to Laravel developer
After 8 years of work as call center operator, Domenico decided to invest in training and become a web developer. So he started attending the Hackademy course, combining study with work. "It was difficult to combine work and study, but in the end I was rewarded - he reveals -. At the end of the course I sent my curriculum to several companies and I immediately received a good response, getting two proposals of employment. I have therefore decided to leave the job as call center operator and I have had the possibility to choose the company more adapted to my requirements, starting my new career as Laravel developer".