Home to Prada, the Colosseum, pizza and da Vinci, Italy is not only a beautiful country to visit but also an exciting place in which to work!

Ciao e benvenuto!

Fittingly shaped like a fashionable boot, Italy is a large peninsula located in Southern Europe that shares its Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. Home to 60 million people, Italy is an industrialized country, with memberships in such international organizations as the G8, NATO, WTO, the Council of Europe, and the United Nations. Rome, both the capital of Italy and the region of Lazio, is the country’s largest and most populous city with almost 3 million inhabitants.

Breathtaking scenery and the cultural and historical richness of Italy continually draw over 30 million visitors each year, making tourism a very important industry to the Italian economy. Art and design, luxury cars, fashion, and delicious food are just some of the country’s more popular cultural exports. Spanning from 17th century Galileo to modern-day Andrea Boccelli, the contributions of Italian artists and scientists have been enormous and monumental.

Interesting Facts

Land & People

• Italy has the lowest birthrate and fertility rate in the world
• As per UNICEF (2007 report on child well-being in rich countries), Italy is the best country for family and peer relationships.

Gastronomy

• The average consumption of pasta in Italy is 25 kg per person per year.
• There are over 140 types of pasta.

History, Art & Culture

• The viola, violin, cello, piano, mechanical clock, barometer, thermometer, optical glasses and telephone were invented by Italians.
• The Bubonic Plague killed one-third of the Italian population in the 14th century.
• Sicily was once the largest ancient Greek city in the world.
• Italy was the birthplace of artistic movements like Renaissance and Baroque.
• The Romans love cats so much that they are considered a bio-cultural asset of the city. A new law condemns any person killing a cat to a 10,000 euro fine, and up to 3 years in jail. There is an estimated 300,000 cats in Rome, and they are the only inhabitants allowed on the ruins.

Economy &Technology

• Italy has the lowest per capita energy consumption in Europe.
• Italy is the fifth most visited country in the world.
• Italy has more famous fashion designers than any other country.

Source.

Working in Italy

Communication

• Italians have very little concept of personal space and tend to stand quite close when talking. Italians are known for using more physical contact than most other Europeans.
• Appropriate topics of conversation in the Italian workplace include Italian history, architecture, art and culture, sports (especially soccer), food and wine, and current events. It is advisable to avoid religion, politics, the Mafia and World War II.
• Italians are very conscious of how they dress, and work to present a "bella figura" (roughly: "cutting a fine figure"). In general, Italians dress in a more formal manner than many other countries.
• Italian is the official language in Italy and it is also the preferred language for business.

Work Environment

• Familiarity and personal relationships are extremely important in Italian business culture and play a role in almost all facets of business life.
• In Italy, the bureaucracy can be very frustrating and personal contacts can be important for cutting "red tape."
• Punctuality is generally not as much of a priority in Italy and Italians have a reputation (perhaps considered well earned by some) for being late and leisurely; however, many Italians are, in fact, very punctual and expect others to be so, as well.
• As a country, Italy virtually goes on vacation for the month of August. It is best not to schedule any major meetings or events from the end of July to the beginning of September.
• Management is paternalistic in Italy; good relationships between management and subordinates are developed and maintained at all times and considered essential for the success of the organization and team.
• Italy has the greatest percentage of small- and medium-sized, family-run businesses than any other European country.

Source: Goinglobal

Beyond the Article

Interested in finding a job in Italy? Here are a few Italian job search sites:
BancaLavoro
Monster Italy
StepStone Italia

Want to work in Greece? The Netherlands? Japan? France? Australia? Check out other countries in the International Spotlight series.

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Posted by: coopcom on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - 03:49 PM