With all of the attention last year to the lay-offs at Ing C Olivetti & Co SpA, few noticed that Italy’s software and services industry also suffered a decline of 3% in its employment, or about 1,800 jobs. Market research firm Nomos SpA has just published a study of employment prospects in the sector conducted for Anasin, the branch of Confindustria that represents 400 software, services and systems engineering companies. The study, which polled 25 software and hardware vendors, said the reasons for the drop include a reduction in government contracts, the stagnation and reduction in services ordered by large banks and industrial groups, and the total inattention of the government to the need for an industrial policy in this sector. The report noted, however, that the decline was only a third of the 9.2% drop in the hardware sector.
