Abstract

The present essay contributes to the debate on the mismatch between labour supply and demand, focusing on workers’ skills vs. those required by firms. This aspect, paired with the demographic scenario featuring rapid population ageing, as well as with the emigration of highly qualified young people to other countries (brain drain), has a significant impact on the availability of human capital for firms, in terms of both quality and quantity. Through an analysis of the trend of economic, demographic, and social indicators in Emilia- Romagna over the last 50 years, the essay discusses the effects that the shortage of human capital can have on the growth potential of the regional industry. Due to shortage of human capital, companies might refrain from certain investment strategies, and thus take less innovative and challenging growth paths, thereby losing competitiveness in the long run. This scenario requires awareness and coherent and well-grounded choices of the political, social, and economic system