Just post on TikTok hashtag # low paying job have a clear photo in front of your eyes in just a few seconds. The one that tells how in Italy it becomes more and more difficult to be satisfied with one’s job, especially when one enters the world of work. And maybe you have completed a course of study or are starting to work in order to be able to imagine this, this university course. “70 euros per week or 280 euros per month for 10 hours of work per day, including Saturday.” Francesca Sebastiani, 22, from Naples, was one of the first to shout out her anger at thejob offer which she decided to refuse because she was clearly underpaid. In response, the employer told her that “young people don’t want to work anymore” and so Francesca decided to go public on social media, turning into a real case. She went on television, became a spokesman for the dissatisfaction of those generations in whose hands the future of our country should be.
Looking through videos on TikTok, we find Sarah, Roberto, Laura; everyone talks about their experience in a few seconds: there are those who were paid less than spritz, those who emphasize how normal it is in the world of food service to accept underpaid or black trial periods, who snorts and says that he stopped doing the beach season because he is even paid five euros an hour. “To get to work, I drive 9 kilometers every day and make less than 8 euros an hour.” Laura is 19 years old, she lives in Rome, works in a club in the Trastevere area. “I have shifts until ten o’clock, and if I get sick, that’s my problem. I came to Rome from Naples to study and I already had different work experience. Unfortunately, I can’t even identify a worthy one. The highest salary I have received is the current “.
If you scroll data published by Eurostat the rebuke of these girls and boys takes an even clearer form: in Italy, wages for young people aged 18 to 24 are among the lowest in Europe., 15 858 euros per year. This is a much lower figure than the income generated in Northern Europe and also in France (€19,000).
“My sister worked in a bathhouse on the Riviera for several years,” Laura continues. “She paid for all of her university education while living away from home in Bologna, but ten years ago she made more than double what I see today as a waitress.” Laura’s friends, who wanted to spend the beach season in Naples this summer, decided to go abroad. “They barely pay for a dorm room and earn a decent amount, but at least they’re learning English.” It’s a choice that boys and girls are increasingly making and one of the reasons North-South entrepreneurs have complained this year about the acute crisis of seasonal workers. According to data released by Federalberghi, at least 300,000 workers are missing.
But there is also a great desire to succeed. Francesco, in a video that has been shared thousands of times, first showed himself as an eighteen year old when he worked as a pizza chef 13 hours a day for little pay, and today, with a few more years on his shoulders, he has his own restaurant with employees whom he governs. “And I’m not exploiting anyone,” he says, pointing out that he didn’t even make enough money to eat pizza with friends on his day off. With long black hair and a Britney Spears song that sets the beat, Serena celebrates her first real paycheck in a video. He is 28 years old and has been living in Milan for one year. “I worked illegally in Sicily, my homeland, for ten years: as a bartender, as a waitress, as a saleswoman. Then she plucked up the courage to leave and here, in Milan, signed a contract for the first time. saleswoman, but now I have some rights that are finally recognized.
Serena has contract with fixed terms which is updated every three months, a method that is increasingly being applied in various sectors. Indeed, it is a path that includes many workers. Istat highlights this in its annual report, which shows how in 2021 one in three boys and four out of ten girlsaged 15 to 34, they were hired on a fixed-term contract. “I’m 20 years old and I’m studying economics,” says Alessia, who posted a video on TikTok in which she ironically explains why she accepted a low-paying job. “I wanted to test myself and become truly independent without burdening my family, as I study by correspondence. So I agreed to work in an ice cream shop for 7 euros an hour, but the worst part was that I was ashamed to tell my parents. I was afraid to disappoint them, and they never knew.” Today, Alessia works in a pizzeria in portions and prepares trays of margaritas and soups early in the morning. “I often choose the morning shift to study in the afternoon. The salary is not much different from before, but I have two days off a week, which I was not guaranteed at the ice cream parlor.
These stories, which we could multiply thousands of times, are accompanied by additional data published by Istat: in 2021, the average age of young Italians aged 18 to 34 who went to live alone fell from just over 30 to 29.9 years. (in Sweden or Finland it is between 19 and 21). This is a small improvement for Italy, but a fact that continues to show how difficult it is to start the path of autonomy. “In that election campaign I would like to see specific proposals turned to us, to those who, like me, who are 20 years old and who have decided to study in order to have more opportunities in the future,” Alessia continues to come. But today, the conditions in which we live are also similar to the conditions of life much more elderly people. When will things change?”Many people on TikTok are trying to answer this question, giving advice on how to refuse a low-paying job, what to say to an employer who does not respect you, how to defend your right to a real contract.” Guys like me don’t agree to any terms, even if they feel obligated to do so, because they have to earn money,” Lorenzo says with an Apulian accent and very blue eyes. “Together we can achieve the change we want.”
Source: Elle