Migrant workers in the italian agricultural sector: The use of census micro data for a regional perspective

The agricultural sector relies heavily on foreign labour to make up for shortages in the national workforce. Despite previous studies, there is still limited information available on the current employment and contractual conditions of migrant workers in Italian agriculture. This paper aims to address this issue by examining the use of migrant labour from a regional perspective, primarily using census microdata. While these data do not capture informal employment, they offer a systematic overview of the distribution and characteristics of foreign workers across regions. The results reveal that the Autonomous Provinces of Bolzano and Trento, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Emilia-Romagna are the regions that rely most heavily on foreign labour. Hierarchical cluster analysis identifies five groups of farms according to their degree of dependence on migrant workers: family-run farms; farms employing additional EU migrants; farms with low reliance on foreign labour; farms employing non-EU migrants; and a distinct group in Friuli Venezia Giulia. Understanding the regional distribution and characteristics of migrant workers can inform policymakers when designing targeted interventions to meet the needs of the agricultural production system, promote legal employment and foster the contractual and labour integration of migrants