The Change in Job Opportunities

In the last 15 years the Italian employment structure has undergone some radical changes. As a result, the proportion of high-skilled jobs (managers and professionals) has increased at the expense of medium-skilled jobs (clerks). Differently from the US, in Italy (and in many other European countries) there has been no increase in the share of low-skilled employment. Thus, we do not observe a polarization pattern in the employment structure, but a massive occupational upgrading towards high-skilled jobs. Furthermore, there is a positive correlation between changes in the employment and wage structures. This evidence is a signal of a demand-side shock which has hit the labour market in recent decades. In particular, according to the recent literature, technological change and outsourcing may have deeply affected labour demand in terms of skill level.