Abstract

Since 1996 Italian labour policies have been aimed at increasing flexibility. Up to 2001 the implementation of these policies has been coordinated by a social pact agreed upon among policy makers, trade unions and employer associations. Afterwards, the social pact was abandonned and labour policies moved from a concertative standard to deregulation. This paper argues that such a move entails the danger that the working conditions of a large part of workers might worsen and their life conditions become precarious. Three suggestions are made to avoid this danger: 1) carrying out at a local level social pacts aimed at improving the amount of human capital owned by workers; 2) strenghtening the action of the recently organized "employment centers" ("centri per l'impiego") by coordinating their activity with vocational training; 3) as young workers act in the labour market with the aim of developing "external careers" by moving from one employment to another, possibly better, these strategies should be enhanced by certificating the skills they acquire in so doing.