The Italian Public Sector Workforce: Recent Evolution in the Light of the Rules on Turnover

Abstract

The public sector represents the largest employer in all OECD countries, however the size of the public workforce varies significantly across countries and sectors and over time. This paper provides an analysis of the evolution of public sector employment in Italy over the past decade, combining an overview of the main legislative interventions that have shaped the recruitment and exit processes and an empirical descriptive analysis of the resulting trends and workforce composition. Finally, I provide an in depth analysis of the case of universities, where the contraction in the size of the workforce was most severe.

Keywords: public employment, labour markets regulation, human capital and skills

JEL Classification: J21, J24, J45, L88