Training in Italy: Past, Present, and the Missed Opportunity
Where we’ve been
Training has long been a part of the Italian business landscape, particularly for larger firms. ISTAT data show that in 2020, 68.9% of companies with 10 or more employees offered some form of professional training, and that figure jumped to over 90% for the most prominent firms.¹ Much of this activity has been powered by government support. Fondi Interprofessionali and the Fondo Nuove Competenze (FNC) have become central pillars in the system, reimbursing either course costs or even salary hours while employees are in training.
In 2023 alone, the Fondi system managed around €1 billion, involving more than 50,000 firms and **2 million workers.**² That’s a massive reach.
But if you zoom in on what kind of training happens, it’s mostly vocational, linguistic, and compliance-driven. Tangible and measurable skills take priority, including safety procedures, certifications, and technical updates.
Where we are now
By 2023–2024, participation in learning had crept upward. About 11.6% of Italian adults engaged in training in 2023. It’s progress, but still low compared to European averages.³ The funding mechanisms remain strong: the FNC was renewed for 2024–2025, with over €1 billion allocated to reimburse training hours.⁴
At the same time, interest in soft skills has grown. Reports from LinkedIn Learning and Italian market studies highlight rising demand for areas like **communication, leadership, and collaboration.**⁵ This is a positive shift — but it’s not enough to stop there.
Where it’s headed
The market is moving toward blended learning, more measurement, and AI-supported pathways. Companies are trying to show ROI on training investments, not just tick boxes. Soft skills will stay high on the agenda , but the risk is that they remain packaged in silos: a presentation course here, a negotiation workshop there, a language module somewhere else, and that’s the missed opportunity.
The real missed opportunity
Real communication is never siloed. It’s not “just” a presentation, or “just” negotiation, or “just” language. It’s all of them, woven together. And empathy is what makes the weaving hold.
Take presenting in English as an example. It’s not simply about grammar or vocabulary. In a single delivery, you’re juggling:
Slide aesthetics and design
Body language and posture
Speech clarity (pace, intonation, articulation)
Word choice and semantics
Content structure and flow
Personality — the impression you create as a human being
Empathy — reading the audience and adjusting in real time
When companies train these skills separately, they don’t transfer under pressure. People may have “the techniques,” but in a real client meeting or on stage, everything collapses if empathy and personality aren’t integrated.
What good looks like
The solution isn’t more training hours, it’s smarter design.
Integrate the stack: Combine language, delivery, personality, and listening into one learning path.
Center empathy: Make audience awareness and listening the foundation, not an afterthought.
Use subsidies strategically: Target funded training plans (FNC, Fondi Interprofessionali) toward cross-skill objectives (e.g., “client meeting fluency” or “negotiating across cultures”) instead of ticking off hours in isolated silos.
Measure outcomes, not attendance: Track improvements in live meetings, client satisfaction, or internal demos, not just certificates.
When empathy and personality are at the core, techniques stop being static. They become evergreen, adaptable across contexts, industries, and stakes. That’s the real opportunity Italian companies can seize in 2025 and beyond
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