The super stage without future

jobwanted Early 2009, in Calabria starts the super stage of the Regional Council. An opportunity for "young unemployed excellences" that many have not missed, because these stages were well paid: € 1000 a month for 24 months. But now that the first year comes to an end, an intern disappointed by the exploitation received and from the fake stage writes a letter to the Chairman of the Regional Council, Giuseppe Bova.

Maria Grazia Bisurgi is a brilliant graduate from Calabria and when she saw the job advertisement she immediately decided about participating. She won the training vouchers "Program Stages 2008-2010" sponsored by the Regional Council of Calabria for the best young graduates. A program that wanted to avoid the new brain drain abroad and bring a breath of innovation in the Calabria government. On paper it was almost perfect. It does not take much, however, to realize that was not all gold that glitters. Instead of receiving "high training", the trainees were employed as unskilled workers for those municipalities or agencies that did not have the right number of employees. Instead of doing a selection of staff that, after a while, can't be lay off even if they don't need it anymore, it is easier and cheaper to take advantage of EU funds and to provide employees paid from the outside to do everything except learning a job.
Maria Grazia Bisurgi writes that not only she has had to compare with the indifference of the institution but also with more material issues: no desk, no computer, no printer. So, why everybody was still go working there? Because in times of crisis when you can't really find a job, attending a well-paid internships for two years can make you decide to shut up and not complain, hoping that the company will convert the stage into a precarious employment contract.
Maria Grazia in her letter to Repubblica degli Stagisti pointed out that "This is a waste of public money and sooner or later they need to stop this bleeding, which we are involved only and ever in late positions in the Italian and European rankings".

The controversy over these "Superstage" had arrived on the pages of Corriere della Sera after an investigation by the Repubblica degli Stagisti which showed all the unclear points of the job advertisement: a long duration (24 months, when a national rule, the DM 142/1998, provides for a maximum of 12 months extendable up to 24 months only for the disabled), an age limit of 37 years (compared with the age limit for "young" set by the EU to 32 years), the possibility of being already a freelancer (if you are already a lawyer or an engineer do you really need an internship?) and especially the lack of a working outlet. Senator Pietro Ichino earlier this year submitted a parliamentary question to Minister Sacconi to understand how come the stage change in this way. But until today, the minister did not respond. But the response that is really lacking is the one of President of the Regione, Bova: good policy - Pietro Ichino writes on his website - it also requires the ability to recognize mistakes, because they should not be repeated.
The spokesman of the Regional Council of Calabria explained to Eleonora Voltolina, director of Repubblica degli Stagisti, that with this program, "we responded to two needs: first, reduce the cost of the policy, the other to find a future career for many young graduates of this region."
So now that the regional elections are close, in 2010, it was organized this perfect internship: two years of training, 900 euros per month for 1,500 hours of work per year that, cleared the weekends, it means a commitment of 5.7 hours a day.
Despite complaints received at the beginning and despite the testimony of Maria Grazia Bisurgi fully confirms the negative predictions about the project, the chairman of the Regional Council of Calabria, Giuseppe Bova, does not like the criticisms received. He is satisfied with the results obtained until now, and ahead of regional elections he has already said of planning to extend the internship to the world of business.
If something works, well why you should change it: if I use public money to "give staff free of charge" as the "superstageur" Bisurgi wrote in the letter, and in the meanwhile I replace staff in public office and, in the future in private ones, without having any contractual obligation, why I should not do it?
Maybe because it is prohibited by law, which in Italy regulates even the duration of these courses, with related tasks. But, unfortunately, the law does not scare anyone, anymore.