| | JULY - 2023MANAGEHRMAGAZINE.COM8In MyOpinionBy Pietro Brunetti, Chief Corporate Affairs & People Officer, Arriva ItaliaWhen I started working for the world of public transport about 20 years ago, the job market was quite different from the current one. For many years, being a bus driver or working in a maintenance workshop has been an aspiration for many people.As HR Managers, we grew up with the certainty that there would always be workers willing to join our companies in these positions and that we would never have problems finding this type of professional.Today's situation is completely reversed. Public transport companies are facing a never-before-seen recruitment crisis. The factors that brought us to this point are many. Among all: the loss of prestige of driver and mechanic professions, people's greater needs for work-life balance, and the new aspirations of those who enter the labour market. In other words: driving or repairing a bus does not concern young people anymore. Companies in the sector are now standing at attention: if we do not adequately find effective solutions, we will no longer be able to adequately respond to the demand for public transport within five years.AnalysisArriva Italia, the Arriva Group Italian branch, starting from the assumption that a change in talent attraction is needed, decided to look outside the box and find new solutions. Pietro BrunettiWe started with an analysis of the actual context, and the main evidence that we found are:· There are few people with the driving license who can drive our buses.· Lack of educational provision in the school system.· Costs to be incurred to obtain a driving license are very high and out of reach for many people.· Even if public transportation for social and ecological impact is fundamental, our business has little "prestige."· Candidates demand a new work-life balance, different from the one we have offered to our workers to date. Based on this evidence, we looked for new solutions that would allow us to build an effective strategy and enable us to overcome the constraints given by the context. Our strategy? The Arriva Academies.The Arriva AcademiesIn 2021 we decided to tackle the difficulties with two projects that truly think beyond: the "Drivers Academy" and the "Maintenance Academy" - two separate projects that arise STIMULATINGHR FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
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