The pilot project in Puglia addresses the gap between migrants’ skills and labour market needs. Led by the Fondazione SMILE Puglia, the initiative combines research, training, and employment services to support migrants’ socio-professional integration. More specifically, it aims to promote decent and regular employment for migrants living in Puglia, given the existing demand for labour in the region, which often goes unmet.
Key actions include:
- building a regional network that acts as a monitor and creates the conditions for the successful integration of beneficiaries into the labour market;
- mapping labour demand in the region through research;
- providing individual career guidance and skills assessment;
- delivering bespoke vocational training for the identified professional profiles.
The project promotes and supports partnerships with accredited employment agencies, employment agencies and enterprises to facilitate the beneficiaries’ entry into the labour market, including work placements. By improving migrants’ access to training, career guidance and decent work opportunities, the initiative supports a sustainable, rights-based approach to integration and full citizenship.
Actions implemented by SMILE Puglia
A central pillar of the initial implementation phase was the production of the study “Labour Market and Foreign Workers in Puglia”.
The study maps the demographic and occupational characteristics of the migrant population in Apulia, providing a granular overview of sectoral labour demand, recruitment difficulties, and qualification mismatches. The study also identifies key sectors for migrant employment such as agriculture, construction, tourism, and personal services. These findings have informed the next phases of intervention.
The report was presented during a public event in Bari, on 31st October 2025, hosted by Fondazione SMILE Puglia.
The event brought together project representatives, businesses, trade unions, employment agencies, associations and migrant communities in Apulia to disseminate the findings of the study to regional stakeholders and to promote dialogue on how to transform labour market analysis into concrete pathways for the labour integration of third-country nationals.
On the basis of the study of the labour market in Puglia, Fondazione SMILE Puglia designed three vocational training courses -two in the “clothing and fashion” sector and one in “logistics and transport”- on two professional profiles. The aim of these training programmes was to provide participants with certified skills, competences and knowledge required by the Apulian Regional Directory of Professions.
The two training courses on the clothing and fashion sector focused on the production and alteration of garment, while the training for the logistics and transport sector focused on warehouse operations. Upon request from the participants, an additional training on how to establish, organise and manage cooperatives (‘training for the creation of a cooperative‘) was organized in June 2026.
The courses began in December 2025 at the Fondazione SMILE Puglia training centre in Bari, and ended in July 2026. Each course lasted 140 hours, 70 of which were dedicated to covering two Competency Units from the Directory.
During the training period, meetings were held between SMILE Puglia, employer organizations and trade unions to identify possible strategies and pathways to support the beneficiaries’ integration into the labour market.
Finally, on 28 May 2026, Fondazione SMILE Puglia organized an award ceremony at the headquarters of CGIL Puglia. During this successful event, a documentary film produced as part of the project was also presented.
To mark the finalization of the project activities, Fondazione SMILE Puglia will organize the project final conference in September 2026 in Bari, Puglia. More information and updates on the event can be found here.