Abstract

The article argues that the recent reform of the Italian labour market - labeled as Jobs Act - has weakened workers' protection against dismissal by introducing a new type of open-ended contract. Considering that the new measure envisaged considerable contributory incentives, an immediate and significant rise in the number of these new contracts was largely expected. According to the author, this will not necessarily lead to an increase in overall employment; rather, the possible outcome will probably be a replacement of temporary jobs with permanent positions in the context of a number of other crucial labour market adjustments.