Following the heavy economic crisis in progress, the army of illegal workers present in Italy is booming. In the last year, recalls the CGIA Studies Office, the pandemic crisis has caused a loss of about 450 jobs. With the closures imposed in recent weeks, many of these unemployed have been joined by many employees of the hotel and restaurant sector and as many fake hairdressers and beauticians who daily go to Italian homes to irregularly exercise the most disparate services and services. A number of invisible people that is difficult to quantify, even if according to the latest data estimated a few years ago by Istat, so well before the advent of Covid, there were many illegal workers in Italy: about 3,2 million.
• Unblocking layoffs will widen the risk
Unfortunately, the situation is set to worsen in the coming months. With the release of the redundancies expected first at the end of June, for those who work in SMEs and large companies, and then in the autumn, for those who are employed in micro and very small companies, there is the danger that the number of unemployed will increase. to an important extent. We are talking about those people who, failing to find a new job, will be forced to opt for irregular work or will improvise as abusive to supplement the meager family income.
• The closures in the "red zone" cause this plague to grow
No less impacting is the closure effect imposed by the government in recent weeks on bars, restaurants, shops, masseurs, hairdressers and beauty centers. Especially in the areas most tried by the crisis, there are not a few waiters, for example, who, while waiting to return to their profession, are improvising builders, painters, plumbers, gardeners or cleaners. They carry out small and low-paying jobs in the black which, however, allow these people to take home a few tens of euros a day, thus allowing many families to combine lunch with dinner. In this difficult moment, those who work illegally out of necessity should not be criminalized at all; God forbid. However, we must not forget that those who work completely or partially illegally compete unfairly, alter the most elementary principles of economic democracy, harming those who work in compliance with the law and pay taxes and social security contributions down to the last cent.
• At Easter boom of fake hairdressers and beauticians
Equally widespread in the area is the activity carried out by fake hairdressers, beauticians and abusive masseurs who, following the closures of these activities, due to Covid, are raging, especially in this Easter week, by going to the homes of customers for cutting, styling, Ayurvedic massage, hair removal or facial cleansing. A decision - the decision taken by the Draghi government to close the entire wellness sector in the "red zone" - deemed unjustified. The hairdressing and aesthetic activities, the CGIA underlines, since May last year have applied with the utmost diligence the guidelines dictated by the health authorities and by the previous government, intensifying the already strict measures envisaged by the sector in terms of hygiene. health and have reorganized to ensure maximum protection of the health of entrepreneurs, their collaborators and customers. Working on booking and having invested heavily in prevention, it does not appear that in any part of the country there have been outbreaks of contagion in these activities that would justify the decision to close everything.
• In Italy there are 3,2 million irregular workers
As we said, the shadow economy is taking care of "amortizing" part of the jobs lost due to the health emergency. The latest available data tell us that in Italy there are over 3,2 million illegal workers, the irregularity rate is 12,9 percent and all these people produce an added value of 77,8 billion euros in the black. The spread of irregular work does not only damage the treasury and INPS, but also the many productive activities and services, the craft and commercial enterprises that often suffer unfair competition from these subjects. In fact, undeclared workers, not being subjected to social security, insurance and taxation allow the companies where they work - or themselves, if they operate on the market as false self-employed workers - to benefit from a much lower labor cost and consequently, to charge a very low final price of the product / service. Conditions, of course, that those who comply with the provisions of the law are unable to offer. Furthermore, the working conditions to which illegal immigrants are subjected should not be underestimated: these people are often denied the most elementary protections provided by the law on safety in the workplace and in these conditions, accidents and occupational diseases risk be very frequent.
• The heaviest situation is in the South
At a territorial level, the regions of the South are most affected by illegal activities and illegal work. According to the latest estimate drawn up by Istat and relating to 2018, in Calabria the irregularity rate is equal to 22,1 percent (136.200 illegal workers), in Campania to 19,4 percent (362.500 illegal workers), in Sicily to 18,7 per cent (283.700), in Puglia to 16,1 per cent (222.700) and in Sardinia by 15,7 per cent (95.500). The national average is 12,9 per cent. The most virtuous situations, as we underlined above, are recorded in the Northeast. If in Emilia Romagna the irregularity rate is 9,8 per cent (211.700 irregular), in Valle d'Aosta it is 9,6 per cent (5.900), in Veneto 9 per cent (207.300) and in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano stands at 8,9 per cent (27.000). As stated above, the black activity of these 3,2 million people generates an added value equal to 77,8 billion euros per year, of which 26,7 billion are produced in the South, 19,8 billion in the Northwest. , 17 in the Center and 14,3 in the Northeast. At a regional level in absolute terms, the most important "black" GDP is found in Lombardy (12,6 billion), followed by Lazio (9,4 billion), Campania (8,3 billion) and Sicily (6,2 billion) billions).
(see Tab. 1).