Italians are 'choosy'

Elsa Fornero, the Italian Minister for Work and Pensions under the Monti Government, said during a press conference this week, that young people shouldn't be too choosy when looking for a job, especially if it's the first one.

I must say that I broadly agree with her and, writing in English for a non-Italian audience, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it. However, to say that in Italy it's probably only a bit less unpopular than admitting to like the gnamgnam style (which I hate BTW).

Although it is very true that most young people cannot find any job at the moment, let alone the DREAM job, it is also true that in Italy it's not unusual for "young" people to complete a 3-year undergraduate course in 10 years, while getting no work experience and being supported by their parents.

Facebook and Twitter are exploding with claims that she is out of touch and has no idea of what the situation is, propelled by headlines in every single media outlet where a small sentence has been taken out of context to generate headlines and create the choosygate.

Ms Fornero must have one of the most difficult jobs at the moment, being minister for Work and Pensions in a country when there's no work and no much money for pensions, to me she's doing quite a good job. The current Government is actually trying to build opportunities for young people, something that to be honest the Berlusconi Government also did very well, but only if you were young, female and willing to sleep with him with absolutely no CV (in that case you might even be made Minister of Education, Environment or Equal Opportunities).

Elsa Fornero

Emergency in Italy

In the past few weeks different parts of Italy, from the north to the south and Sicily have been affected by extreme weather conditions. People have lost their houses, their possessions and even their lives. I guess it doesn't really make a big news, we are not at Tsunami levels, and people are busy thinking about the economic situation, the X-Factor or the Christmas shopping, but sometimes it's good to stop for a moment and think that everything we have now, could be gone tomorrow.