Higher technical education and training (IFTS - Istruzione e Formazione Tecnica Superiore) and vocational education and training (IeFP - Istruzione e Formazione Professionale) are two efficient channels for accessing the labour market, according to a recent survey carried out by the National Institute for Public Policy Analysis (INAPP).
Regarding IFTS courses, 2 700 graduates from 207 courses (2015/16 academic year) were interviewed. 54% of them reported finding a job in the first year following their graduation. This percentage increased to 64% two years after graduation. Networks that IVET providers established with employers proved to be a decisive factor for their graduates in finding a job:
- 34.7% of employed interviewees mentioned that the accompanying measures of their training institution were decisive in finding employment;
- 24.9% followed informal channels;
- 13.8% claimed that they knew their employer beforehand;
- the impact of public employment services and private intermediation centres in helping graduates to get a job was minor (1.6% and 5.5% respectively).
In relation to contract types:
- almost half of those interviewed have a fixed-term contract (49%);
- more than 38% have a permanent contract;
- 8.4% are self-employed;
- 4.9% are ‘para-subordinate’ workers (i.e. individuals who are legally self-employed but who are often ‘economically dependent’ on a single employer).
The results for IeFP graduates are positive too. The sample involved 11 000 graduates, 9 000 with a professional qualification (graduating from three-year programmes) and 2 000 with a professional diploma (graduating from four-year programmes).
Results from the 9 000 sample (graduates of three-year programmes in the academic year 2013-14) show that:
- more than 62% are employed in the third year after obtaining their qualification. Over 90% of those employed have contracts, predominantly fixed-term ones. More than one third of permanent employment contracts are in apprenticeship;
- 23% are still looking for a job (13% unemployed and 10% looking for their first job);
- 10% are continuing their education/training;
- 2% are engaged in some way;
- 4.3% are inactive.
Those with a professional diploma (2 000 interviewees, graduates of four-year programmes) have obtained their qualification in the 2014/15 academic year. Results for this group show that:
- more than 69% are employed three years after obtaining their diploma (61.8% have fixed-term contracts, 31.7% have permanent ones. More than 40% of permanent contracts are in apprenticeship);
- 7% continue in education/training;
- 1.3% are active in different ways (i.e. in internships, scholarships or work, military service, civil service, etc.).
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