Maritime economy: 175 thousand new workers needed by 2030

Between now and 2030, the employment needs of the maritime economy in Italy will be 175 thousand workers, around 120 thousand will leave because they are close to retirement and will need to be replaced, but there will be 50 thousand new jobs based on new technologies and the new needs of the sector, a challenge that our country cannot win without focusing, we must increasingly close the gap between what the market demands and what training offers to the maritime economy". This is the priority indicated by the special advisor of Confindustria for the Economy of the Sea Mario Zanetti at the 66th Genoa International Boat Show during the presentation of the study 'Yachting tourism and economic contribution' edited by Deloitte in collaboration with Confindustria Nautica.

A Confindustria-Boston Consulting Group study estimates a 2026-2030 need for 175 thousand employees for the entire maritime economy. "In the shipbuilding industry this challenge weighs more heavily: 43% of the positions sought remain unfilled, almost double the sector average - reports Zanetti -. Therefore it is necessary to invest in skills because only in this way can we all win the game: workers, businesses, territories, sectors. And thus the competitiveness of the blue economy and of the country grows."

"Nauting is a sector that employs almost 200 thousand people, each production worker activates nine jobs along the supply chain, so with every job discovered we clip the wings of a growth engine that already exists in a concrete way today", reports Zanetti, recalling that "the maritime economy in general is worth over 11% of the GDP, almost 225 billion in added value, a sector that employs over one million and 100 thousand workers and is growing at almost double the speed of the rest of the national economy, increases employment with equally steep trends, steeper than the rest of the economy. At this point, however, growth must be supported because the organic structure sooner or later comes to have a gap or a decline in the growth trend, which can be supported by working on specific initiatives. As Confindustria we have identified three priorities: carriers and fleets, port infrastructures and their integration, and the third pillar is skills".