TRIESTE – Strengthening the link between training and business in order to address labour shortages in logistics is the goal of the agreement between ITS Marco Polo Academy and Confindustria Veneto Est. In 2025, in Veneto, more than one in two of the 68,300 positions forecast in the transport and logistics sector proved difficult to fill. The figure rises to 63.4% for vehicle drivers, highlighting a structural shortage of qualified personnel. To tackle this imbalance between labour demand and supply, ITS Marco Polo hosted around 30 companies associated with Confindustria Veneto Est for a meeting focused on a direct review of training pathways and the technologies in use.
The initiative is part of a series of meetings that in the coming weeks will involve the whole of the North Adriatic. The Venice-based institute, specialising in higher technical education in the maritime, rail and port logistics sectors, offers courses ranging from logistics manager to train driver, through to transport maintenance technicians and engine officers. A training offer designed to meet companies’ operational needs. During the visit, entrepreneurs tested state-of-the-art simulators for ships, trains, tugboats and port cranes. These are immersive tools that reproduce real working conditions and make ITS Marco Polo one of the few centres in Italy equipped with such technologies, thanks to an overall investment of around €4 million.
The central issue remains skills. According to Confindustria Veneto Est, labour demand in the sector will continue to grow, but it will increasingly be oriented towards profiles with technological and managerial skills, alongside traditional operational roles. The digital transformation of logistics in fact requires capabilities linked to data analysis and process automation. In this context, cooperation with ITS institutes is seen as a concrete tool to reduce the mismatch. More than 90% of ITS Marco Polo graduates find employment within one year of completing their courses, a figure that confirms the alignment between training and companies’ needs.
The initiative also involves the Venetian port system. According to Venezia Port Community president Davide Calderan, the availability of qualified personnel is a decisive factor for the competitiveness of the port, especially in a complex context such as Porto Marghera, where activities require specific technical skills. The model therefore aims to strengthen continuous dialogue between business and training, adapting educational paths to the future needs of the labour market. The objective is to expand the pool of qualified workers available and support the development of logistics in the North-East.
