Italy to grant work permits to 425k non-EU workers

Prime Minister Georgia Meloni’s Right-wing coalition has been forced to take action after complaints of labour shortages

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni speaks at a press conference at the end of a Cabinet Ministers meeting in Rome, Monday, Oct. 31, 2022
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni CREDIT: Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse via AP
Italy will grant more work permits to foreign workers while cracking down on migrants illegally crossing the Mediterranean to reach Europe.

Rome announced it would give 425,000 work permits between this year and 2025 to non-EU nationals after complaints of staff shortages in sectors including tourism and construction.

The Italian economy is rebounding after the coronavirus pandemic, while the Bank of Italy has warned a shortage of skilled workers could endanger its recovery plan.

Prime Minister Georgia Meloni’s Right-wing coalition said the increase would promote legal migration to plug gaps in the labour market and that quotas were set after talks with employers and unions.

Before the pandemic, Italy gave fewer than 31,000 work permits a year to migrant workers from outside the EU.

This year it will grant 40,000 more permits in addition to 82,705 already in process.

The government wants to boost the number of permits granted each year gradually, reaching 165,000 in 2025, and expand the jobs foreign workers can be eligible for.

Skilled workers such as Fishermen, plumbers, nurses, bus drivers, mechanics and construction workers will be welcome in Italy.

Some permits will be reserved for workers from countries that sign deals to fight illegal migration.

Quotas are ‘a surrender’
Ms Meloni faced accusations of hypocrisy after the plan was announced. She is the leader of the Brothers of Italy, which has neo-fascist roots.

She has defended Rishi Sunak’s migrant deal with Rwanda, while her ally Matteo Salvini, of the hard-Right League, has painted non-European migrants as a threat to Italian culture.

Laura Boldrini, of the centre-Left Democratic Party, said the high quotas were a surrender and “a bitter dose of reality for those who have built their political careers by demonising immigration as a national security threat.”

Ms Meloni has targeted NGOs rescuing people at sea as a way of reducing the number of illegal migrants reaching Italy.

She was criticised in February after at least 94 drowned when a boat sank just metres from the Italian coast.

In November last year, she turned away a charity-run ship carrying 230 rescued migrants from an Italian port. The boat eventually docked in France.

Ms Meloni has pushed for tougher EU action to fight illegal migration, including deals with North African countries to speed up returns.

Overnight on Friday, 230 migrants landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean, which is a major entry point for migrants into Europe.

Coast guard patrol boats rescued the migrants from six small boats.