The workshop Unlocking the potential of foreign citizens in accessing the labour market, held in Rome on 16 November 2023, joined together more than sixty stakeholders, representing institutions and firms from all over Italy, to discuss challenges faced by third-country nationals (TNCs) in accessing the Italian labour market and possible ways they can be supported, with a special focus on the vulnerable ones.

The event started with a plenary session, staging presentations of representatives of the partners of the project: the Italian Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM), and the Council of Europe.

Following the plenary, participants split between three working groups, reflecting the main themes of the workshop: 1. Implementing coordinated systems for social and work integration; 2. enhancing and empowering competencies in connection with local needs; 3. identification, validation and certification of formal, non-formal and informal skills.

The public and the private sectors were represented in all the working groups, which discussed challenges and operational solutions to issues linked to the three themes; the afternoon session was introduced by the presentation of a project run by the International Labour Organisation on the protection and assistance of victims of labour exploitation.

Inputs and ideas collected during the workshop will by used to consolidate a policy brief, that the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies will use to enhance the coordination between different levels of governance in Italy.

The initiative was organised within the project Reinforcing multi-level policy coordination for integration in Italy, co-funded by the European Union through the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) and implemented by the Council of Europe, in cooperation with the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies.