South, Manageritalia Puglia Calabria Basilicata: "Moving from the brain drain to building the future"

How can we stem the annual drain of young talent from Southern Italy? And how can we transform the "ritornanza"—the return of graduates and professionals to the South after experiences in Northern Italy or abroad—into a lever for development for businesses and regions? These are the central themes of "Direzione Sud," an initiative held in Matera and promoted by Manageritalia Puglia, Calabria, and Basilicata. The initiative brought together managers, institutions, businesses, and academia to identify shared strategies for making the South more competitive and attractive. The mayor of Matera, Antonio Nicoletti, opened the meeting, while the president of the Basilicata Region, Vito Bardi, delivered the closing remarks, highlighting the role of institutions in creating an ecosystem conducive to young people, investment, and innovation. 

Mayor Antonio Nicoletti stated: "Matera aims to be a city that offers young people concrete opportunities for growth, employment, and innovation. Creating the conditions for talented people to choose to stay or return means investing in collaboration between institutions, businesses, and universities. This is a challenge that concerns the future of our community and the entire Southern Italy, and we are called to address it together." Vito Bardi, President of the Basilicata Region, continued: "Retaining young people and creating the conditions for those who have left to choose to return is one of the crucial challenges for the future of Basilicata. Incentives alone are not enough: we need concrete opportunities, skilled jobs, innovative businesses, and a strong connection between education, research, and the productive system. The Region is committed to building an ecosystem capable of attracting investment and nurturing talent, because we believe that human capital is the most precious resource for the development of our region. Basilicata must become a land where young people can choose to build their own future, contributing their skills to the growth of the entire community." 

The urgency of the issue is confirmed by the numbers. According to the latest ISTAT data, from 2019 to today, over 313 young people have left Southern Italy for work and professional growth. Over the same period, the population between 18 and 35 years old living in the Southern regions decreased by 7,6%, while in the North it grew by 4,8%. Areas that lose young people also lose domestic demand, local fiscal capacity, human capital, and attractiveness for businesses. Specifically, the Potentino area lost 12% of its 18-35 year-olds between 2019 and 2026, while Matera lost 7,2%. This trend is also confirmed by InfoCamere data, which shows that the contribution of Southern regions to the governance of Northern businesses is growing: in 2012, directors born in the South represented 11,6% of managers working in the Center-North; fifteen years later, this figure rose to 12,6%. Southern Italy finds itself in a paradoxical situation: the number of people born in the South holding corporate administration positions has increased by 268.733 compared to 2012 (+52%), yet a quarter of them (25,2%) leave their region to move to Central and Northern Italy. Half choose Lombardy. 

Don't miss the latest news from La Milano: Add us to your favorite sources on Google in just one click.

"The South doesn't need to retain young people at all costs, but rather offer them concrete reasons to choose to stay or return. This means creating more innovative businesses, investing in managerial skills, strengthening the dialogue between universities and the manufacturing sector, and building an ecosystem capable of nurturing talent. Returning isn't nostalgia: it's an extraordinary development opportunity that we must transform into a strategy for the future of Southern Italy," said Domenico Fortunato, president of Manageritalia Puglia, Calabria, and Basilicata. 

The roundtable brought together businesses, institutions, academia, and managers such as Giovanni Schiuma, director of the Department of Engineering at Lum University; Gaetano Torchia, administrative director of Sviluppo Basilicata; Michele Vivilecchia, occupational psychologist and representative of the I Ritornati movement; Francesco D'Alema, president of Confindustria Basilicata; and Michele Somma, president of the Basilicata Chamber of Commerce. Moderated by Francesco Cautillo, vice president of Aidp Puglia and Basilicata, the speakers shared the need to strengthen the dialogue between education and businesses, support the growth of SMEs through managerial skills, accelerate innovation and digitalization, and create favorable conditions for Southern Italy to once again be a place where people can build their future. 

Particular attention was paid to repatriation, an increasingly widespread phenomenon among young professionals who, after gaining experience outside Southern Italy, choose to return to their home regions. If supported by targeted policies and a dynamic entrepreneurial network, this process can become a lever for economic, social, and cultural development. The meeting concluded with a shared commitment to strengthen collaboration between institutions, businesses, universities, and management to transform the talent drain into a new era of growth. The goal is to build a Southern Italy capable not only of retaining its young people, but also of attracting skills, investment, and new opportunities. 

(Adnkronos)