VZCZCXRO5299
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ
DE RUEHRO #1739/01 1630906
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 120906Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5039
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 0394
RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE 1466
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN 7207
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES 1534

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 001739 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/WE 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ECON SOCI EIND EINV SCUL IT
SUBJECT:  ITALIAN GRADS DISCUSS JOB SEEKING WOES 
 
REF: ROME 001412 
 
ROME 00001739  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Ambassador Spogli hosted a "garden chat" for 
recent alumni of Rome's Catholic University LUMSA (Free 
University of the Assumption of Mary Most Holy) May 31, 
¶2006.  The dozen young adults occupied a variety of private 
and public sector positions.  One was unemployed and still 
seeking a job in her field.  The objective of the session 
was to hear first-hand of their experiences, opportunities, 
and obstacles as they tried to enter Italy's job market. 
 
¶2.  The event was an outreach effort under the "Partnership 
for Growth," the Embassy's dialogue with the academic, 
business and government communities that showcases the U.S. 
model of 21st century economic growth, based on innovation 
and the global marketplace, and promotes ways U.S. practices 
can be leveraged to help strengthen the Italian economy, 
which for the last five years has grown less than one 
percent per year.  By the end of the evening, the grads had 
thoroughly discussed the disconnect between Italian 
universities and the job market, but came up with only one 
suggestion for improving the system.  END SUMMARY. 
 
PROBLEM:  IVORY TOWERS NOT GEARED TO THE LABOR MARKET 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶3.  Despite their own success at finding employment, 
participants agreed that there is a disconnect between the 
university and the labor market:  universities often do not 
offer the type of preparation the market demands.  At the 
masters degree level, in particular, the alumni maintained 
that masters courses occupied a niche of their own, 
functioning as temporary "parking spots" for graduates 
uncertain of their career path or without a job offer.  All 
called for greater dialogue between universities and the 
private sector.  Most also agreed that the university system 
is neither merit-based nor competitive, because all degrees 
have the same legal value in Italy.  Eliminating the equal 
legal standing of degrees would be a first concrete step 
towards creating competition among universities, leading to 
competition to get into the best schools and competition to 
attract the best students and professors.  Universities 
would be forced to offer more market-relevant courses and 
break the uniform, nationwide salary structure for full 
professors. 
 
AGED LEADERSHIP RESISTING CHANGE 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  Several participants pointed to Italy's aging 
leadership, with entrenched ideas focused on the past, as a 
major factor in the university's and the labor market's 
resistance to change, particularly in the public sector. 
Others complained that change was impossible because of the 
top-down control by the Ministry of Universities and 
Research.  They argued that even Italy's elite universities, 
such as the private Milan's Bocconi, are backward-looking 
and still largely preparing students for careers in large 
industry, whereas they should also be preparing them to 
qualify for self-employment or opportunities in start-ups. 
 
LABOR MARKET INFLEXIBILITY HAMPERING THE PRIVATE SECTOR TOO 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶5.  Turning to the present, the grads characterized the 
private sector as relatively young and dynamic, with the 
potential to be very positively affected by change, but 
currently beset by a low level of investment compared to the 
public sector.  They underscored that market inflexibility 
is a bottleneck for Italian economic expansion, noting that 
Italians are too focused on obtaining foreign investment 
which, although welcome, should not be a substitute for 
domestic investment.  One participant argued that in Italy 
qualifications and skills count much less than connections. 
 
ONLY A FEW SATISFIED CUSTOMERS 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6.  While most argued for greater labor market flexibility 
and the need to develop a more market-oriented university 
curriculum, one participant employed in the parastatal 
Postal Service argued to the contrary that universities 
exist to form people's minds, not necessarily prepare them 
for a specific job.  Similarly, he did not see any 
advantages in having greater labor flexibility.  Some 
participants who owned their own businesses in the niche 
markets of film-making and graphic design, argued that it is 
 
ROME 00001739  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
difficult these days to find really qualified personnel, but 
were satisfied that they could "make it" in the current 
system. 
 
COMMENT: 
-------- 
 
¶7.  Overall, while content to describe the dysfunctions 
between Italy's universities and the job market, the alumni 
had only one concrete proposal to fix the system:  eliminate 
the equal legal standing or fungibility of university 
degrees.  Some called for "more dialogue" between the 
universities and employers, while others encouraged the 
Embassy to include these areas in the Ambassador's 
Partnership for Growth dialogue.  Our impression is that 
this group, although wanting to see change, had successfully 
made it into the labor market and was not prepared to stand 
on the barricades and demand reforms.  END COMMENT. 
SPOGLI