On November 4, 2024, from 9:30 to 11:00, GATE Real Estate Innovation Srl SB will host the online event “The Job I Want: talent attraction and skills development for retention.”
The meeting will provide a forum for HR leaders and companies to explore effective strategies for attracting and retaining Generation Z talent, aligning young people’s expectations with corporate dynamics.

Italy’s brain drain: a challenge for the future
Italy faces a critical challenge in retaining its young talent. Between 2013 and 2020, more than 250,000 young Italians, many of them graduates, left the country in search of better career opportunities abroad—mainly in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland—according to a Censis report. The phenomenon, known as the “brain drain,” is fueled by a youth unemployment rate that in 2023 reached 22%, well above the European average.
This loss of talent is an increasing concern for Italian companies, which must tackle the dual challenge of attracting the best young people and creating the ideal conditions for them to grow and stay in the country.

Fabio Sgaragli: “Valuing young people is crucial to compete”
Fabio Sgaragli, President of GATE REI, underscores the importance of deeply understanding the needs of young professionals in order to remain competitive in an increasingly global market:
“More than ever, we need to understand how to value young people in our companies to ensure greater capacity to compete in an ever more complex, global market. GATE REI’s activities involve thousands of young people every year. By promoting this research, we wanted to delve deeper and share our sense that new strategic levers are needed to valorize them and help them find their professional path,” Sgaragli says.

Gen Z expectations: flexibility, growth, and sustainability
A key part of the event will be the presentation of findings from research conducted by the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, led by Professor Fabrizio Montanari. The survey involved over 1,100 students from 27 Italian universities and revealed three core requirements expressed by Generation Z:

• Autonomy and flexibility: young respondents want greater autonomy in their tasks and strong flexibility to improve work–life balance.
• Opportunities for professional growth: companies that offer continuous learning and skills development are rated more positively because they are seen as offering growth paths.
• A sustainability-oriented corporate culture: students look for companies with a concrete commitment to sustainability that also promote remote work policies and employee well-being.

Innovation and continuous training as priorities
Another finding is the need for Italian companies to invest more in innovation and continuous training. A shortage of skills-development opportunities leads many young people to view the national labor market as stagnant, pushing them to look abroad for better growth prospects. Moreover, although the pandemic accelerated the adoption of remote work, Italy still lags behind other European countries in ensuring a good work–life balance, a crucial factor for young talent.

A new paradigm for recruiting and retaining talent
Companies able to meet Gen Z’s needs for autonomy, flexibility, and sustainability will be better positioned to build a stable, motivated workforce aligned with today’s market challenges. The event promoted by GATE REI will provide participating companies with tools to rethink employer branding and retention strategies, aligning them with the expectations of the new generation.

To register for the event, email info@gaterei.it.
The complete research findings will be available after the November 4, 2024 event by writing to info@gaterei.it.

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