Chiara Bodini: «Do you work to live or do you live to work?»

The dilemmas: work as hard as you can or work just enough? Always looking for the dream job or surrendering to the first contract whatever it is? Is it necessary to separate work from private life?

Unfortunately, the unemployment rate remains high (7.8%) and minimally structured work often appears as a mirage. So we asked Clare Bodini some coordinates to orient us: she is Purpose&Talent Agentthat is, it helps people and organizations to identify their passions, skills and talents.

The first question is almost obligatory: does the permanent job still exist?
«The new generations have less and less the idea of ​​work for a living, partly because they have been forced to forget about it, partly because they have grown up capable of identifying other possibilities. In Italy we still find it difficult to move away from that idea, but already, for example, in the United States, where labor policies are extremely different, and young people are more accustomed to greater flexibility, greater movement. Even permanent work today is no longer so immutable: over the years, within the same company, the required skills and objectives change. This is why continuous training is needed today. The works are constantly being transformed and unfortunately, often in the people I meet, I see the concern, not to mention the fear, of not being able and knowing how to renew. Being ready to change can give satisfaction and open up new opportunities».

But, speaking of opportunities, are there any today like yesterday?
«In reality this is a moment in which the opportunities to be able to free oneself with one’s qualities are more than before, but it is necessary to be aware of one’s strengths. Today it is possible to rely on the famous soft skills, those transversal, often innate, abilities which once were not recognized in any way and which today are recognized as having a great value because they can allow you to find a job that best combines with your own values ​​and with their own attitudes. Many people, despite having achieved important professional successes, ask themselves at a certain point what they have done up to that moment: perhaps they have raised a family, perhaps they have made a career, but they are not satisfied because what they do does not reflect them or because feel less than the others. Today we live in a very individualistic society and often, partly because of social networks, we risk feeling insecure: if we look on LinkedIn, they are all head or chief of something, and so we always feel that we are missing something. We must learn to recognize our qualities».

Today it seems that there is more attention towards a fair balance between work and private life, is it really like that?
“Yes, absolutely. Although, on the other hand, there is in a certain sense more synergy and integration between life and work. We grew up in the culture of having to keep personal and professional life distinct, but today ours can finally coincide purposes, our raison d’être with our talent, who you are in relation to what you do and the opportunities that open up can be amazing».

But it seems that salaries are not in line with the high cost of living, that the fees are generally lower.
«The economic problem is real and the gap is increasing also due to inflation. However, younger people today have a broader overview than in the past, they also look at their salary in relation to the quality of working time, for example office spaces, training, relationships with colleagues, growth opportunities in a broad sense, rather than just the money in the paycheck and often prefer a more attentive welfare or more flexibility. That said, the issue of salaries is there and plans of a political and social nature have not yet resolved even a fraction of the changes of the last 20 years. If hiring companies could pay less taxes, perhaps wages would increase, there would be less illegal work and above all from the strategic point of view of the company, having human resources and their capital internally, rather than having to draw from the outside with all the risks involved.”

But if a person wants to reposition himself in the world of work where should he start?
«The traditional method is to contact employment agencies, or for certain levels, executive search companies, the so-called head hunters, and then obviously on the portals of companies that post job offers. In recent years, the channels have also increased thanks to technology, which has disintermediated the contact between supply and demand, and platforms such as LinkedIn have gained a fair amount of weight. People today are called to promote themselves, to introduce themselves, telling more things about themselves. Compared to the past, companies now hold more interviews: they tend to bring together more people, from different sectors, because there is more transversality. Now we try to choose better. Many people who cannot find work do not know where to look. It’s hard to introject that a civil engineer doesn’t necessarily have to be a civil engineer. It is paradoxical that there are people who cannot find work and companies who cannot find workers, and this does not only depend on the skills that have partially changed, but on a different work culture.».

But what kind of skills would we need today in the world of work?
«There is a lack of highly qualified STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) skills, a lack of technical figures such as IT developers but also a lack of people ready to dedicate their time to professions that are more properly linked to service such as waiters, cleaners, waste collectors, etc. That said, today companies have begun to understand the importance of soft skills, which however are too often underestimated by candidates, who often forget their strategic asset: talent. Many new corporate roles are emerging, more transversal and above all new organizational functions such as those related to sustainability and corporate organization. Until recently no one had heard of Chief Happiness OfficerOf Head of D&I (Diverstiry&Incusion) or even, as in the institutions, the role of Chief of Staff . The various companies are innovating more and more and are opening up to new perspectives, but we still find it difficult to see each other in a multifaceted way».

But given this increased flexibility, does it make sense that 8-hour office hours still exist?
«I don’t think there are equal formulas for everyone. It really depends on the type of work you do. Sometimes there are trades that require great contraction and isolation, but meeting in an office, perhaps for moments of training and engagement, it can be important. It’s not for nothing that some large companies plan some meetings for webinars, to share goals, to see an inspirational film. Once upon a time, team building initiatives were carried out to involve employees, but they were disconnected from professional meanings and missions, as if they were parallel activities. I believe that it is necessary to rediscover people’s values, rediscovering everyone’s talents and these meeting opportunities can be important moments. Today investing in research and development means investing in people, Talentship: the science that measures Human Capital.».