(eng)aging! 2021 Virtual Conference

At first, the possible penetration of digital technologies in the various economic sectors will be described using mainly information from the Inapp-Istat survey on occupations –Survey on Italian Occupations (Indagine Campionaria sulle Professioni), merged with the Labour force survey. These data will allow to describe the level of routinization of the work content, i.e. of the so-called tasks, intended as a measure of the possibility of digital automation of the latter, in view of an effective replacement of human beings by machines.
Secondly, the consequences of this situation on the employability of both younger and older workers will be discussed. The discussion will also examine the strategy depicted by the Italian recovery plan, trying to identify possible anticipatory signals of displacement of specific social groups and/or professional categories and risks of skills and labour shortages.
The paper will conclude suggesting possible correctives of public measures envisaged, with special reference to interventions aimed at strengthening human capital characteristics, by means of the modernization of the curricula of the education and VET systems and the improvement of continuous training of workers.