Work

A labour market split between a manufacturing and service-based North with employment close to the EU average and a South with much lower rates. No statutory minimum wage: pay and hours are set by collective agreements (CCNL). A thirteenth monthly salary almost everywhere, a fourteenth in some sectors.

Italy

Employment rate below the national average but above the rest of the South; strong tourism seasonality from May to September. Public administration, retail, tourism, sheep farming and agri-food, services in Cagliari; industrial crises in the Sulcis and Porto Torres. Job centres run by ASPAL; ZES unica and regional incentives.

Sardinia

In 2025 northern Sardinia, the area of the Sassari Chamber of Commerce, had the highest business growth rate on the island (+1.55%), with services and tourism rising and commerce and farming declining. A major public employer is the university hospital trust. The Informagiovani publishes job offers.

Sassari

The Nuoro Chamber of Commerce's 2024 statistical dashboard counts 31,275 registered businesses in the province; agriculture is 35.0% of those classified by sector (12.5% in Italy). Tourism and business services are growing, commerce, transport and agriculture are shrinking. Provincial, not municipal, data.

Nuoro

Regional and state public employment, health care and university first; then retail, tourism and catering, port and logistics, ICT (Tiscali, CRS4 at Pula, start-ups) and energy with the Sarroch refinery. The island's best job market but a small one; employment rates below the national average. ZES unica for investors.

Cagliari

Employment rates among the lowest in Italy and high unemployment, with much undeclared and seasonal work. Public administration and the Region are the main employers; tourism, agriculture, retail; microelectronics in Catania, refining in Syracuse and Milazzo. Sicilian Region job centres; graduate emigration; ZES unica.

Sicily

According to the Trapani Chamber of Commerce, in 2024 the province had over 39,000 active businesses, with agriculture, forestry and fishing the largest sector by registered businesses, followed by trade, construction and food-and-accommodation. Provincial employment and unemployment rates are in the data.

Trapani

The chemical, oil and energy hub between Siracusa, Priolo Gargallo, Augusta and Melilli accounts, according to the Region, for about 7,500 direct and indirect jobs; in 2021 an agreement was signed to request its recognition as a complex industrial crisis area. The ISAB refinery, of national strategic interest since 2023, represents a fifth of Italy's refining capacity.

Syracuse

Public employment (Region, Comune, State, health care, university) first, then retail, fast-growing tourism and catering, a port with ferries, cruises and a shipyard, ICT services of national companies. Employment rates among the lowest of the regional capitals; much informal work. ZES unica for investors.

Palermo

According to the Chamber of Commerce, at the end of 2024 the province of Messina had 62,979 registered businesses, 47,871 of them active; retail is the leading sector, followed by construction and agriculture, while business services and tourism are growing. The municipal YoungME portal collects calls, internships and work grants for under-35s.

Messina

Catania hosts one of the world's largest centres for power semiconductors, the STMicroelectronics site (5,500 employees stated), where in 2024 the company announced an integrated silicon-carbide campus. Enel produces solar modules through 3Sun. The INGV Etna Observatory and the University are also based in the city.

Catania

The lowest employment rate in Italy and one of the highest unemployment rates, with widespread undeclared work. Public administration, retail, seasonal agriculture (Gioia Tauro plain, Sibari), summer tourism, port of Gioia Tauro, call centres, university in Rende. Graduate emigration among the highest. Regional job centres; ZES unica.

Calabria

The Chamber of Commerce of Catanzaro, Crotone and Vibo Valentia reports that at the end of 2024 Vibo Valentia was the only one of the three provinces where active businesses grew (+84). The municipality cites industry, tourism, crafts and farming, and the port of Vibo Marina.

Vibo Valentia

According to the Chamber of Commerce report, in 2023 the Reggio Calabria metropolitan area had an unemployment rate of 16.1% and an employment rate (ages 15–64) of 41.3%. Between 2019 and 2023 active businesses grew in construction and in financial, real-estate and professional services; manufacturing and retail declined.

Reggio Calabria

An administrative capital: Region, state offices, courts and Court of Appeal, health care (Renato Dulbecco university hospital and ASP) and university are the main employers. A private sector of retail and services; no industry. Employment rates among the lowest in Italy. ZES unica for investors.

Catanzaro

Small labour market: Stellantis Melfi and suppliers, oil in the Val d'Agri, public employment, agriculture in the Metapontino, tourism in Matera and Maratea. Unemployment lower than in other southern regions, partly because of emigration. Job centres run by ARLAB; ZES unica incentives.

Basilicata

An economy of public employment, health care and university; within an hour the Stellantis plant at Melfi with its supply chain and the Val d'Agri oil, which funds royalties and regional measures. Few large private employers in the city; coworking almost absent. ZES unica for investors.

Potenza

Employment rate around 50%, unemployment above the national average. Highly seasonal agriculture and tourism; aerospace (Grottaglie, Brindisi, Foggia), steel in Taranto in crisis, engineering and ICT in Bari, energy. Job centres run by ARPAL Puglia. Graduate emigration; ZES unica incentives.

Apulia

Trani falls within the area of the Bisceglie employment centre; the Trani desk and the Sintesi helpdesk are listed at via Tenente Luigi Morrico 2. The Comune has a "Vita lavorativa" (working life) service category and points to "Impresa in un giorno" for business activities.

Trani

The former Ilva steelworks, owned by Acciaierie d'Italia under extraordinary administration, has a wage-guarantee (cassa integrazione) agreement with a training plan. The port, run by the Ionian Sea Port System Authority, has been designated a hub for offshore wind and has a port-employment portal. Since 2024 Taranto has been in the single Special Economic Zone for southern Italy.

Taranto

The Lecce Chamber of Commerce publishes an annual economic-statistical compendium on the province's municipalities (2026 edition available). The Università del Salento offers graduates internships, job placement and a Confindustria Lecce job board.

Lecce

The Foggia Chamber of Commerce's statistical dashboard on the 2024 accounts of companies in the province shows a fabric made almost entirely of micro-enterprises, with trade, construction and business services as the largest sectors. The Foggia job centre, run by the regional agency ARPAL Puglia, is at via San Severo 71/79.

Foggia

Port work has an institutional reference in the Southern Adriatic Sea Port System Authority, which publishes port companies and port operations for Brindisi. The Brindisi-Taranto Chamber of Commerce has an office in the city and issues studies, business-demography data and the Excelsior information system.

Brindisi

Barletta has its own employment centre, at via Ildebrando Pizzetti 24. The Sintesi BAT portal points to the regional job offers ("Lavoro x Te"). The Comune has a thematic area for the Sportello Unico Attività Produttive (business desk) and one for maritime state property.

Barletta

An economy of public services, health care, universities, port logistics and retail, with a mechanical and aerospace industrial hub at Bari-Modugno and a growing ICT sector. Fiera del Levante in September. Employment rates below the national average; ZES unica incentives for investors.

Bari

The Andria employment centre, on via Potenza, also serves Minervino Murge and Spinazzola; the Ufficio Collocamento Mirato (targeted placement office) is at the same address. Job offers are on the regional "Lavoro x Te" portal. The municipal museums recall two local products: sugared almonds and olive oil.

Andria

Employment rates among the lowest in Italy and unemployment among the highest, with widespread undeclared work. Sectors: retail and services, tourism and catering, public administration, logistics, aerospace and automotive (Pomigliano), shipbuilding, agri-food, ICT in eastern Naples. Graduate emigration documented by ISTAT and SVIMEZ. ZES unica.

Campania

Salerno's commercial port is among the leading regional ports for containers and among the leading hubs for new cars, as well as a node of the Motorways of the Sea. The Campania Region's job centre and its targeted-placement office (Collocamento mirato) are both on via Generale Clark.

Salerno

Naples' economy is based on services and public administration, with the port (passengers, cruises, freight), fast-growing tourism, health care and an ICT and aerospace cluster revolving around the university and the large companies based in San Giovanni a Teduccio and the metropolitan area. Employment rates are among the lowest of Italy's big cities.

Naples

Giugliano has its own Campania Region job centre (Centro per l'impiego), at Villa Ammaturo on via San Francesco a Patria. The regional SILF Campania portal finds the competent centre from one's municipality of residence.

Giugliano in Campania

Benevento falls under the Irpinia Sannio Chamber of Commerce, which publishes an annual report on the provinces of Avellino and Benevento (the 2025 edition was presented on 1 December 2025). Tourism around the Santa Sofia UNESCO site is the subject of an ISNART report from July 2026.

Benevento

The Irpinia Sannio Chamber of Commerce publishes an annual report on the economy of Avellino and Benevento (the 2025 edition was presented on 1 December 2025). The municipality names wine growing as one of Irpinia's main development drivers.

Avellino

Italy's smallest labour market after Valle d'Aosta: public employment and health care, Stellantis plant in Termoli, agri-food, construction. Employment rate below the national average, emigration of young graduates. ZES unica incentives; regional job centres.

Molise

Campobasso's economy is based on regional public administration, health, university, retail and services, with agri-food (pasta, dairy, oil, wheat) as the main industry. The private labour market is small and the emigration of qualified young people is the region's structural issue.

Campobasso

Employment rates midway between the Centre and the South. Automotive and components in the Val di Sangro, pharmaceuticals and electronics in L'Aquila and Avezzano, agri-food around Teramo and Chieti, services and retail in Pescara. Seasonality on the coast and ski slopes. ZES unica incentives; regional job centres.

Abruzzo

In 2025 exports from the province of Pescara held almost steady (-1.0%), with a strong final quarter; manufacturing makes up 94.3% of exports, led by chemicals-pharmaceuticals and food. One active business in four (24.1%) is women-led, mostly in commerce. Figures from the Chieti Pescara Chamber of Commerce.

Pescara

L'Aquila's economy is sustained by regional public administration, university and research, health, the reconstruction supply chain and an industrial cluster of pharmaceuticals, electronics and space in the plain (Pile, Bazzano, Sassa). The labour market is small and stable, with employment rates around the central Italian average.

L'Aquila

Service-based labour market concentrated in Rome: public administration, services, tourism, ICT, audiovisual, international organisations. In the provinces pharmaceuticals (Pomezia–Latina–Frosinone), aerospace and agriculture matter most. Wide gap between Rome and Frosinone/Latina. Regional job centres.

Lazio

Rome's economy is dominated by services: central public administration, international organisations and embassies, tourism and hospitality, film and television, health, universities and research. Industry is concentrated in aerospace and electronics in the metropolitan area. Coworking is widespread in the centre, Prati, Ostiense and EUR.

Rome

According to the Frosinone Latina Chamber of Commerce, the province of Latina ranks second in Italy for pharmaceutical exports and its exports are almost entirely manufactured goods. The Latina job centre (Centro per l'impiego), run by the Lazio Region, is at largo Francesco Cavalli 9 and prefers appointments.

Latina