Foreigners working in Italy

Italy is among the top 8 economies in the world and although its companies are usually small sized in comparison with other industrialized countries, there is still a lot or room for foreigners to come and work in the "Bel Paese". Rome and Milan are the biggest cities and clearly attract more working force and while Rome is usually a political crowd, Milan is more industrial when it comes to international jobs. Of course, we are talking about white-collar high-end salary jobs, as for foreigners in the broader sense, intended as immigrants, the scenario is totally different. Let's concentrate on the first group for the purpose of this article, to give a clear idea of what to expect in Italy in terms of moving there.

 

Let's begin with Rome, where F.A.O. (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. www.fao.org) has its headquarters and where thousands of employees every day from all over the worlds try to fight and resolve the biggest problem of them all: world starvation.  Established in 1945 just at the end of World War II, FAO has become  a strong organization, and has helped the international breeze, already initiated by the presence of the world's Embassies and the Vatican with its Embassies as well, making Rome a very unique place in the globe. A double diplomatic staff is definitely the bases or working forces culturally and socially different, but also open to each other. Usually, international citizens in Rome can truly benefit from the beauty of the city and rely on the fact that their embassies or agencies take care of everything, often giving them enormous financial breaks. One above all is the price of gas that FAO employees pay, significantly lower than the average national cost. To favor the presence of such large international population, international schools have also been established, so that everyone can virtually find a proper education for their kids and even at college level, some countries (especially the U.S.A.) have initiated full universities or programs affiliated to the colleges overseas.

Other international places in Rome are IFAD ( www.ifad.org) and World Food Program  ( www.wfp.org ) and there is staff work at the America Embassy

 

In Milan, the situation is slightly different, the politics and the international diplomacy is replaced by multinational companies, finance and a very strong business oriented international work force. This leads to a more energetic crowd and also to more private money floating around, bringing Milan to be more like a true cosmopolitan city, offering services that are geared to foreigners. Although, even Milan has its roots well eradicated in the Italian culture, therefore any foreigner working there must know that bureaucracy is a big part of the equation and that Italy unfortunately is still full of red tapes. This bring to some difficulties in terms of renting homes, buying cars, insurances, working permits, bank accounts and so forth. None of he above are impossible tasks, but usually require a little extra time. Of course, there is a big difference between EU and non-EU citizens, due the European treaty. With the recent consolidation of EU rules, most EU members can expedite a lot of paperwork and their data is easily interchangeable with Italian institutions. However, Americans, Japanese, Australians and all the others must still face a more tedious road. On this matter it is actually almost hilarious the case of the Swiss, especially the Italian speaking Swiss that live just miles from Milan, right across the boarders, but because Switzerland is outside of the EU on certain matters, they are treated like if they were coming from the other side of the world and they are the only international citizens that officially speak Italian as a first language, it's very ironic.

 

Usually the majority of the international business work force works also for foreign companies that have their offices in Milan and some in the rest of country, mainly Rome. It is very rare to actually see an Italian company, bank or insurance hiring non-Italians, due to a cultural reasons, but also to a strong union mentality hard to change.  There is however, a large exchange of labor force at the blue-collar level, but when it comes to managerial positions, things are pretty blocked. In the very recent years immigration has boomed and low-income jobs have been taken by foreigner citizens, which gladly do what Italians do not want to do any longer. Usually the three most important categories are: factory workers, agriculture and housekeepers/maids. This revolution from the bottom is changing the face of the country, but also creating new white-collar jobs, as international companies go after this new population and politics seeks representatives to appoint in office to improve their quality of life. It is a very interesting process.

 

Working in Italy, like working in any other country is tough because nobody likes to stay away from home, but what Italy offers in return is the access to 65% of the art of the world and to a culture that is behind the modern world as we know it.  So, we strongly advise anyone who is working there or planning on doing so, to take full advantage of it, as it could be much more lucrative than any salary or business deal.

 

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