Work: EU approves 2025 Hiring Bonus, 1,1 billion plan presented to incentivize employment

The European Commission has approved Italy's €1,1 billion plan to incentivize employment for young people and women, with contribution exemptions of up to €650 per month. The measure, part of the Cohesion Decree, aims to create up to 180.000 new permanent jobs, representing a crucial step for employment growth, especially in the South.

The European Commission approves new measures with which Italy supports the employment of women and young people and paves the way for the approval of the implementing decrees of the Youth and Women bonuses provided for by the Cohesion Decree (DL n. 60/2024, converted with amendments into law 4 July 2024 n. 95).

The provisions notified to the Commission provide for a expenditure of 1,1 billion euros, partly financed through ESF+, for the contribution exemption recognized to employers in the event of hiring, by 31 December 2025, of young people under 35 who have never had a permanent contract and women, residing in Midday, without a regular job in the previous semestere. The exemption has a maximum ceiling of 500 euros per month for each individual worker, which increases to 650 euros per month. in the case of young people living in the South and women.

The European Commission has authorised the Italian measure as State aid for employment compatible under Article 107(3)(c) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). An iimportant milestone for the Minister of Labour and Social Policies and for the Minister of European Affairs, Cohesion Policies and for the PNRR as it is the first authorisation decision obtained outside the Temporary Frameworks, with more stringent rules than those applicable during the health crisis linked to the Covid-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine. This result, achieved within a more stringent regulatory framework, is therefore even more significant compared to authorisations obtained in the past.

For the European Commission the measures are necessary, appropriate and proportionate to achieving the objective and containing sufficient guarantees to avoid abuses and distortions of competition.

The Minister of Labour and Social Policies, Marina Calderone, he has declared: "The approval by the European Commission of our measures in favor of women and young people contained in the Cohesion Decree is a success for the Meloni Government and a great opportunity for the entire country. We will be able to provide new tools to young people and women to enter the world of work and from the combination of the various measures we expect to create up to 180.000 new permanent jobs. As we said on the occasion of the record numbers on employment in Italy, achieved in these two years of government, there is still a lot to do and young people and women are the real added values ​​that can give a further push to the participation of ever more Italians in our world of work, thus strengthening our productive fabric. I would like to thank all the offices, officials and managers of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies, in particular the legislative office, for having achieved this very important goal for our country. A heartfelt thanks also to our Permanent Representation in Brussels for the valuable contribution to the result".

The Minister for European Affairs, Cohesion Policies and the PNRR, Tommaso FotiSaid: “The investment of 1,1 billion euros, provided for by the cohesion decree n. 60/2024, to incentivize and support the work of women in the South, young people and the most disadvantaged categories, financed in part by the ESF+ fund, is an important step forward to create new permanent job opportunities and thus strengthen employment policies in our nation, reducing territorial gaps. Relieving the pressure of unemployment, especially in the South, is a strategic objective not only for the Meloni government but for the entire European Union”.

It should be noted that the employment support plan provided for by the Cohesion Decree contains a series of further incentives, built in compliance with State aid regulations but exempted from prior authorization by the European Commission, for young people and women throughout the country both in relation to employed work and self-employed work (entrepreneurial and freelance) as well as in favor of the long-term unemployed in the South.