Rome, 11 September 2023 - Training is one of the most important levers activated by foreign companies to attract new talent. In fact, 89% of companies with foreign capital invest more in this aspect than other businesses in Italy, flanking traditional training activities with the on-the-job trainingparticipation in conferences, workshops and seminars and self-study activities.

This is what emerged today from the event 'New Generations, Global Enterprises and the Challenge of Competitiveness' promoted by the Osservatorio Imprese Estere di Confindustria and Luiss and the Scuola IMT Alti Studi di Lucca, with the contribution of Fondirigenti.

The event held today in Lucca at the Scuola IMT Alti Studi - a doctoral school and research centre for the analysis of cultural, economic, social and technological systems - was an opportunity to address the issue of training, which is central to the challenge of the competitiveness of the industrial system, in the round: from the training of human capital in Italy, to the collaboration between the world of universities and that of foreign companies, and the identification of the skills needed to project companies into the future.

As shown by the studies carried out by the Osservatorio Imprese Estere (Vol. III, "Le imprese estere in Italia: tra segnali di ripresa e nuovi rischi globali" - Foreign Enterprises in Italy: between signs of recovery and new global risks), almost all foreign capitalised enterprises carry out training activities (9 out of 10) in contrast to other resident enterprises (less than 70%). Moreover, the participation rate is very high: 700 out of every 1,000 employees are involved in these training activities, while in the other enterprises, it does not exceed 500. Not only that, the training activities have a very specific focus on management and managerial skills, two fundamental competences for career development and for managing the complex scenarios in which multinationals operate.

"The data speak for themselves: Italian companies with foreign capital place great importance on intangible assets in their growth strategies and, in particular, analyses testify to the attention of foreign companies to the quality and skills of their human resources," said the Vice President for Internationalisation of Confindustria and President of ABIE, Barbara Beltrame Giacomello. "High-potential talents need a training offer that allows them to develop their qualities and then make them available to the company. This is why the Foreign Investors Advidory Board of Confindustria, together with our member companies, has developed a training project dedicated to manufacturing, leadership, sustainability and business management, aimed at their talents".

"Despite global uncertainties, foreign-controlled companies in Italy," explained Armando Rungi, Professor of Economics at the IMT School - have continued to invest in precisely that factor - human capital - that will enable us to govern the industrial transformation already underway, which is both digital and environmental at the same time. In view of increasingly complex global production chains, we need to think about improving the conditions for local collaboration between domestic and foreign companies, in order to reap the greatest benefits also in terms of human capital formation'.

"Human capital formation is a global issue that cannot be tackled without considering the importance of connections between territories in a system that is broader than national and even European. In Italy the impact of mismatch is 48%, which means that companies do not find half the resources they are looking for. And without prepared resources you cannot compete," said Giovanni Brugnoli, Vice President for Human Capital of Confindustria. "This is precisely why we need to broaden our horizons and put in place innovative strategies to import new skills, for example, by going to train resources abroad in a structured manner, and then attract talent to our country. We already have a recognised international capacity of many of our universities and an increasing number of ITS that we must enhance. We must, in fact, create a system and the contribution of foreign capital companies is and will be increasingly decisive'.

"Workforce skills are among the main elements considered in the location choices of foreign investors: specialised technical skills, which are essential in an environment characterised by dual transition (digital and sustainable), and managerial skills adequate to manage change," he added Marco Bodini, President of Fondirigenti. "Foreign investors play a decisive role here, raising the bar of standards and acting as a driving force for the entire SME system. Strengthening the role of continuous training, starting with managerial training, is therefore the best way to improve the positioning of our economic system in terms of attractiveness'.

The Advisory Board for Foreign Investors (ABIE) is the technical group of Confindustria in which the top management of the most important international companies with an office in Italy sit, and one of its objectives is to enhance the role that foreign capital companies play for our country, emphasising the connection between foreign investors and the Italian business world. The ABIE also plays a supporting role for policy makers and operators of technical structures by providing indications on factors that can contribute to the promotion of Italy as a primary business destination.

The publications of the Osservatorio Imprese Estere are available on the website: https://impreseestere.it