Career counselling and guidance services

The Ministry of Labour and Social Policies promotes youth employment through active labour market policies such as:

• Basic and specialized career guidance, which includes the assessment of individual skills and the identification of the most suitable training or employment pathways. Specific guidance services are also provided for women, especially those with disabilities, migrant backgrounds, or who are victims of violence, through legal, psychological, and training support, as well as personalized job placement programs.

• Training programs for professional qualification and requalification, self-employment, and job placement;

• Promotion of work experiences and/or internships to enhance skills;

• Incentives for self-employment, territorial mobility and entrepreneurship.

The Ministry also implements the Worker Employability Guarantee Program, part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP – Mission 5), aimed at upgrading active labour market services. The program is carried out by Regions and Autonomous Provinces through Regional Action Plans (PARs) and is based on personalized services: individuals are directed to the most appropriate pathway through targeted basic guidance and an employability assessment.

The Italian Youth Guarantee Program concluded in 2020, but its measures continue through funding from the National Program “Youth, Women, and Work” 2021–2027, aimed at promoting youth employment. The Ministry of Labour and Social Policies acts as the managing Authority for the Program. 

Among the projects approved under this initiative are:

• NEET Incentive (Not in Education, Employment, or Training), which aims to reduce unemployment among young people who are not working and are not enrolled in education or training programs by promoting their entry into the workforce through longer-term employment contracts. 

• The Excelsior Project is an information system for employment and training planning, which provides a comprehensive overview of job offers and mid- to long-term forecasts on hiring and required skills;

• The New Skills Fund (Fondo Nuovo Competenze) is a measure for businesses designed to enhance workers' skills by covering training costs, particularly in the green and digital sectors;

• EURES (European Employment Services) is the European network of employment services, which supports job seekers by promoting workers mobility. In Italy, over 60 advisors and around 300 assistants are available to support those looking for work and planning to move to another European country, as well as companies seeking staff across Europe. Advisors provide information, guidance, and recruitment support.

The Unified Federated Information System (SIU) enables the interconnection of data on active labour policies at both national and regional levels. Through the Portal for Active Labour Policies, the system offers online services for citizens, employment service operators and companies, facilitating job placement and reintegration.

Italian Regions are responsible for the territorial organization of services and the implementation of labour policies through a network of public and private entities, including Public Employment Centres and Employment Agencies, which offer a wide range of services related to job placement and career guidance. This network also includes Municipal Career Guidance Centres, Youth Information Offices, Universities, Upper Secondary Schools, Training Agencies, Chambers of Commerce, and Social Partners. Training opportunities can be accessed through regional information services and websites, as competence for vocational training lies at the regional level.

Funding

The Ministry of Labour and Social Policies (MLPS), within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), receives approximately seven billion euros for initiatives under its direct responsibility. These interventions include major reforms of labour market policies and vocational training systems, such as the strengthening of public employment centres and the development of innovative tools for active labour market policies. Approximately 600 million euros have been allocated for the investment aimed at strengthening Employment Centres by the end of 2025.

The National Program “Youth, Women, and Work” 2021–2027 has a total budget of over five billion euros, funded through a combination of national co-financing and the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+).

Quality assurance

In Italy, there is a monitoring and quality control system for career guidance and professional counselling services, although it is decentralized and involves significant participation from the Regions.

The monitoring mechanisms for guidance and counselling services include:

• The Directorate General for Active Labor Policies of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies monitors and analyses data concerning employment and labour policies, including information related to the activities of bodies under the Ministry's supervision, in coordination with the Labour Market Observatory and the National Institute for Public Policy Analysis (INAPP); 

• INAPP and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies monitor the implementation of programs such as the Worker Employability Guarantee Program (GOL) and publish annual monitoring reports;

• The Unified Information System[GD1]  (Sistema informativo unitario, SIU) for active labour market policies aims to achieve the highest levels of efficiency, including in relation to the services provided to users.

• Customer satisfaction surveys are conducted periodically by the Regions. An example is the 2023 customer satisfaction survey by the Regional Employment Agency of Emilia-Romagna;

• The Strengthening Plan for Employment Centres (included in Mission 5 of the NRRP) provides, among its lines of action, an information system that enables effective data collection and management, also for monitoring active labour policy programs. The Ministry of Labour and Social Policies makes available on its website a Progress Monitoring tool, with updated data for each region.

The Directorate General for Active Labour Policies of the Minister of Labour and Social Policies is responsible, among its functions, for defining the essential levels of performance in the field of active labour policies and for verifying and monitoring compliance with these standards. Among the indicators used to evaluate guidance and counselling services there are the Annual Performance Reports prepared by the Regional Agencies, in accordance with Article 10 of Legislative Decree 150/2009, with the aim of clearly and promptly illustrating the expected and actual performance of the Administration.

Among the quality assurance mechanisms for labour policy services, conditionality criteria are applied to public funding: in the case of the GOL Programme, there are obligations for implementing bodies and operational rules for accredited entities.

At the end of 2023, ANPAL presented an Evaluation Plan for the National Program “Youth, Women, and Work” 2021–2027, which is currently managed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies. By 2029, an evaluation group will assess each program's implementation, effectiveness and impact, supported by administrative data, user satisfaction surveys and stakeholder feedback.