Webuild, one of Italy’s largest construction firms, is eyeing African talent as it seeks to hire 10,000 skilled construction workers for upcoming projects in Europe.
According to the company’s CEO, Pietro Salini, finding specialised talent is a huge challenge, but the company sees Africa as a potential source of these workers.
“Just in 2022, we hired 15,000 people, of whom 40% were under 30. It is a huge effort to find them and training them. But it is of the utmost importance in order to modernise and make Italian infrastructure more sustainable,” he said.
Mr Salini was speaking during a recent conference in Italy dubbed: A dignified immigration from Africa for Work and the future of Italy, which was organised by Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Italy.
In response to severe labor shortages across multiple sectors, occasioned by aging population, Italy is urgently seeking to fill 600,000 job vacancies by welcoming skilled foreign workers. Almost half of these are hard to find.
The country will reportedly need at least 280,000 foreign workers a year until 2050 to compensate for the shrinking national labor force.
The European Labor Authority has identified significant shortages in healthcare, science, engineering, and hospitality, presenting opportunities for foreign professionals who aspire to live and work in Italy.
The demand for foreign expertise is particularly high in professions such as engineers, engineering technicians, skilled construction workers, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, healthcare, and social services professionals.
“The infrastructure sector requires increasingly more specialised workers. This is why Webuild has been investing for years in professional training and in a culture of safety and innovation for those wishing to work in [construction],” Mr Salini said.
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Italy is experiencing a surge in construction activity, with ongoing and planned construction projects, from the Messina-Catania-Palermo railway to the Jonica State Road to the Third Giovi Crossing, requiring skilled construction workers.
This has prompted Webuild and other companies to go on a hiring blitz to ease the labour shortages currently being experienced in the country.
In January, Webuild signed a $4.7 billion contract for the construction of a freshwater lake as part of the Neom development project in Saudi Arabia.
Under the deal, the company will build three dams to create a 2.8-km long freshwater lake at Trojena, where the Asian Winter Games will be held in 2029.
Webuild added that it will construct the Bow, an architectural feature intended to expand the lake’s surface beyond the main dam. This structure will also accommodate a luxury hotel and a residential area.
Located in the mountains 50km from the Gulf of Aqaba, Trojena aims to become the first outdoor ski resort in the Gulf region.
Webuild has outlined plans for its completion by late 2026.
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