Excelsior is a labour market intelligence system that provides timely, detailed data on companies’ recruitment plans and skill needs across Italy.
Developed by the Ministry of Labour and Unioncamere, it supports evidence-informed employment, education and skills policies through high-frequency, territorially granular analysis.
Understanding labour market needs with high frequency and short lag is one of the most pressing challenges facing modern economies. Skills shortages, demographic change, technological innovation (artificial intelligence, virtual reality, etc.) and the green transition are reshaping demand faster than traditional data systems can track. In Italy, one of the main institutional responses to this challenge is the Excelsior information system, developed and coordinated by Italian Ministry of Labor and Social Policies and Unioncamere within the network of the Italian Chambers of Commerce with public authorities.
Excelsior is far more than a statistical survey. It is a comprehensive labour market intelligence system that collects, analyses and disseminates information on companies’ recruitment plans, skill requirements and training needs. On a regular basis, a very large sample of firms across sectors and territories is surveyed, generating one of Italy’s most detailed and timely datasets on labour demand.
At its core, Excelsior acts as a bridge between enterprises (understanding real needs), young students (education, training system and school and career guidance) and political authorities (public policy). By capturing firms’ hiring intentions and expected difficulties in recruitment, it helps tackle the structural mismatch between the supply of skills and the needs of the productive system. Its data are used by policymakers, education providers and career guidance services to better align curricula, training pathways and orientation activities with labour market realities.
This makes Excelsior an important tool for evidence-informed policymaking. Its outputs support employment policies at national and regional level, as well as active labour market measures and skills strategies. The platform also contributes to local decision-making, enabling territories to identify sector-specific shortages, emerging professions and persistent mismatches that may be overlooked in more aggregated statistics.One of Excelsior’s key strengths lies in its territorial granularity. Thanks to the widespread presence of the Chambers of Commerce, data can be analysed at national, regional and provincial (local) level, allowing for targeted interventions tailored to the specific characteristics of each area.
Equally important is timeliness. Regular data collection ensures that shifts in labour demand linked to economic cycles, technological adoption or regulatory change are captured promptly. In a rapidly evolving labour market, this responsiveness is a decisive advantage.
Excelsior plays a growing role in monitoring the skills implications of the digital and green transitions. By identifying demand for digital, technical and environmental competences, it underpins the design of reskilling and upskilling strategies, especially for SMEs and younger workers.
In doing so, Excelsior shows how labour market intelligence, when embedded in a strong institutional network, can move beyond analysis and help translate data into informed, forward-looking action.