Disability and work: 36,500 employed in Veneto

Approximately 36,500 people with disabilities - mostly adults between the ages of 30 and 54, employed on permanent contracts and hired by companies on a nominative call - work in Veneto in over 22,000 companies in the area.

This is the data that emerges from the report “The work inclusion of people with disabilities in Veneto”, released every year by the Veneto Lavoro Regional Labour Market Observatory, with data updated to 2024.

As of December 31, 2024, workers with disabilities employed in the region are precisely 36,540, 9% more than a year earlier. The highest concentrations are recorded in the provinces of Padua (7,741, 21% of the total) and Vicenza (7,102, 19%), followed by Treviso (6,495), Verona (6,455), Venice (5,696), Belluno (1,728) and Rovigo (1,323).

Most of the employed are hired with a permanent contract (91%) and with the qualification of employee (36%). Higher percentages of those hired with a fixed-term contract (17%) or apprenticeship (12%) are recorded among young people. 38% of the total employed have a part-time contract, more widespread in the tourism and commerce sectors. The most frequent employment sectors are those of services (54%), in particular personal services, commercial activities, wholesale and logistics, while in Belluno, Treviso and Vicenza the employed in the industrial sectors prevail, especially metalworking and made in Italy.

The data relating to the Article 14 Conventions of Legislative Decree 276/2003 are showing an increase, which allow companies to partially fulfill their hiring obligations by assigning work orders to type B social cooperatives or local social enterprises, which hire people with disabilities to carry them out. In this way, the company is not completely exempted from its obligations, but rather can collaborate with a cooperative to include candidates with the most complex disabilities. The tool has given such positive results that since 2024 its scope of action has expanded in Veneto, capable of immediately identifying its potential, thanks to the new framework agreement in force between the Region, employers' and trade unions' associations and those of people with disabilities. As of December 31, 2024, 311 conventions are active compared to 281 a year ago, with the involvement of 276 companies, 93 social cooperatives and 622 people with disabilities (there were 560 a year earlier). Among the social cooperatives pioneering the use of art.14, there are the Veronese San Marco and Quid and the Treviso-based Ecornaturasì, with dozens of established collaborations.