Italy hospitality hiring leads October jobs demand

Italy hospitality hiring tops the country's labour demand in October: accommodation, food and tourism businesses plan about 94,500 hires this month, more than any other sector, according to the Excelsior bulletin released on 19 October by Unioncamere and the Ministry of Labour.

Across the whole economy, Italian companies plan 539,080 hires in October, 3.7% more than in October 2025, and 1,345,020 over the October–December quarter. The survey behind the figures interviewed close to 96,700 firms between 1 and 16 September.

The most requested profession is the one every restaurant owner is short of: food service operators and workers, the statistical group that covers waiters, cooks and bartenders. Firms expect to hire 77,750 of them in October, up from 66,790 in the September bulletin. The same group also ranks first among service roles for growth compared with October last year.

The most wanted worker in Italy this autumn is still the one carrying the plates.

Where Italy hospitality hiring is concentrated

Restaurant staff, sales assistants (48,320) and unskilled delivery and goods-handling staff (34,570) together account for about 30% of all planned hires. Services absorb 65.3% of the month's demand, industry including construction 26.1% and agriculture 8.6%. Accommodation and food services appear alongside agriculture and business support services among the fastest-growing sectors, although the bulletin gives no percentage for them.

Lazio, the region around Rome, ranks second only to Lombardy with 58,540 planned hires across all sectors, 4% more than a year earlier. Rome's restaurant trade, from the carbonara counters in our guide on what to eat in Rome to the hotel dining rooms, draws on that pool.

Hard to find, and mostly on fixed terms

Employers expect difficulty filling 43.6% of October's positions, slightly below the 44.1% reported in September. In 25.6% of cases the obstacle is a lack of candidates; in 13.6% it is inadequate preparation. The national bulletin does not publish a separate hard-to-fill rate for restaurant staff.

The contracts on offer explain part of the gap. Only 21.8% of planned hires are permanent or apprenticeships, while 78.2% are fixed-term or otherwise time-limited. Specific experience is required for 64.3% of hires, 30% are aimed at people under 30 and 23.6% at foreign workers.

Italy is not an isolated case: in Spain, hospitality also came first in the end-of-year hiring forecast across all sectors. The November bulletin will show whether Italian restaurants keep their lead once the autumn city-break season fades. For now, the most wanted worker in Italy is still the one carrying the plates.