Salaries in the North are 35% higher than in the South. While workers in the northern regions earn an average gross daily wage of 101 euros, their southern colleagues earn 75. This is revealed by a study that processes data from INPS and ISTAT by Cgia di Mestre, according to which the difference is due to the greater productivity of work that in the North is 34% higher than the figure for the South.
At a regional level, the average gross annual salary of employees in Lombardy is equal to 28,354 eurosin Calabria, however, it amounts to just over half; that is, 14,960 euros. But if in the first case the productivity of work is equal to 45.7 euros per hour worked, in the second it is just 29.7.
The study, explains the Cgia, reiterates the issue of the wage imbalances present between the different areas of Italy, in particular between North and South, but also very evident between urban and rural areas. A theme that the social parties have attempted to resolve, after the abolition of the so-called wage cages that occurred in the early 70s of the last century, through the use of the national collective labor agreement. The application, however, has only partially produced, for the Cgia, the desired effects. Wage inequalities between geographical areas have remained and in many cases have even increased, because in the private sector, multinationals, utilities, medium-large companies, financial/insurance/banking companies that – generally pay their employees much higher than average salaries – are mainly located in the metropolitan areas of the North. The types of these companies also have a very high share of personnel with professional qualifications on the total (managers, executives, managers, technicians), with high levels of education to whom a significant salary must be paid.
Finally, it should not be forgotten that irregular work, which is very widespread in the South, has always caused a reduction in contractual wages in the sectors that are traditionally affected by this social scourge (agriculture, personal services, commerce).