"2019 was the year of a real relaunch for Formazienda. Now, however, we need to do more in the knowledge that Italian companies are increasingly demanding good training."
Speaking is Rossella Spada, director of Formaziendawho explains the Fund's 2020 planning, with digitalisation among the key themes of the training courses. The Fund has also increased the amount of resources earmarked for training in SMEs. "The programming of the notices planned for 2020 is already in full swing with the publication in the official journal on 7 February of the first injection of resources amounting to EUR 5 million. By the end of the year, we expect to reach EUR 30 million through an overall plan that will be implemented in six two-monthly windows.
Why is continuous training a strategic factor for the growth of the productive world?
Training can only be at the heart of corporate strategies when these are directed towards growth and the acquisition of competitive points. The Italian economy thrives on the great capacity for innovation shown by small and medium-sized enterprises, just like the more structured groups. This is our prerogative and we need to safeguard and enhance it, including through the Interprofessional Funds, which provide concrete resources to align skills with market needs and management objectives.
Digitalisation, one of the issues you promote most, is now a necessity also for SMEs, your preferred target. What is the trend in membership?
Digitisation is part of the strategic asset of innovation, which has always characterised the contents and aims of our notices. It is a subject that is very close to the needs of SMEs, which, partly for this reason, are increasingly attracted to the interprofessional funds. There are currently 110,000 companies and 775,000 workers registered with Formazienda and, since we were set up in 2008, we have never stopped growing. This is a sign that our way of working, which combines certainty of procedures and speed of funding, is certainly rewarded, but it is also proof that Law 388/2000, which set up the interprofessional funds, has provided a suitable and effective solution.
The mechanism can, of course, be subject to improvement, and there is a wide-ranging and fruitful debate about overcoming the forced levy on the 0.30% payment and European constraints on state aid, but there is no doubt that the funds have played and continue to play a valuable role in following up the highly innovative nature of our entrepreneurship.
The systematic presence of bodies in charge of supporting initiatives in the field of continuous training, in agreement with companies and training bodies that dialogue with the production system, demonstrating their great effectiveness precisely with reference to the service aimed at SMEs, also makes it possible to carry out counter-cyclical action to tackle times of recession and structural unemployment, retraining employees, facilitating the integration of young people and contributing to the growth of the country.
