Abstract

The "Jobs Act" is a very ambitious labour market reform. It aims at fostering both overall and, in particular, youth employment, reducing precariousness and increasing the stability of the least protected workers. The theory and the values at the basis of the act are those prevailing at institutional level both in Italy and in the EU: basically they rely on the assumption that unemployment and related problems can be solved acting at labour market level by modifying labour laws and reducing the benefits of the socalled insiders. The article analyses the way the Italian government has presented the reform and the role of political communication (with its aggressive character) including the odd term (in English) chosen to name it. A comparison with the "US Jobs Act" is carried out pointing out the extreme difference between the two. The article provides evidence on the results of the reform, in particular in terms of quality of employment (with the development of new forms of precarious employment) and the paradoxical effect of the concentration of new employment in the oldest age groups. Finally, the article argues that the reform and its political communication style are expression of a new regulation model that tends to ignore the role and the demands of the unions and other stakeholders.