ROME: Italy has abolished voucher payments for workers, which were highly popular with employers, to avoid a bruising referendum championed by the country’s main union, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Friday.
Payment by vouchers was introduced in 2008 as an experiment for seasonal farm laborers. The flexible and unregulated form of payment was aimed at encouraging bosses to stop hiring workers on an illegal, ad hoc basis.
Its use has spread rapidly across many sectors, with 1.7 million people — about 8 percent of all working Italians — receiving some or all payment in vouchers in 2015, angering the CGIL union, which has promoted a referendum on the issue that was due to be held on May 28.
The ruling center-left Democratic Party lost a referendum in December on constitutional reform, forcing the resignation of then-Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, and the government is anxious to avoid another bruising ballot-box battle.
“We have done this in the knowledge that Italy does not need an election campaign on themes such as this in the months ahead,” Gentiloni told reporters, announcing his Cabinet’s decision to scrap the vouchers immediately.
The CGIL hailed the move as a “great success” but employers and center-right political parties denounced the elimination of the vouchers, saying it would push parts of the economy back into the shadows and complicate legal job creation.
Under the voucher system, workers are not paid directly in money but with certificates, which the employer buys online, or at a post office or tobacconist, for €10 ($11), 20 euros or 50 euros each.
Workers then cash their vouchers in and receive €7.5 for each €10 of face value, with €2.5 going to the state to cover insurance and pension contributions.
Without an employment contract, workers have no rights in areas such as sick pay, holidays or leave, while there are obvious advantages and savings for employers. Unions said bosses were also abusing the system, paying only some wages in vouchers and the rest in cash.
The government said it would work with unions on drawing up a replacement system.
The Eurointelligence think-tank said the end of the easy-to-use vouchers showed the impossibility of reforming hidebound Italy, which has regularly underperformed other euro zone economies since the launch of the single currency in 1999.
Italy scraps employment voucher system
Italy scraps employment voucher system
Reforms target sustained growth in Saudi real estate sector, says Al-Hogail
RIYADH: The Real Estate Future Forum opened its doors for its first day at the Four Seasons Riyadh, with prominent global and local figures coming together to engage with one of the Kingdom’s most prospering sectors.
With new regulations, laws, and investments underway, 2026 is expected to be a year of momentous progress for the real estate sector in the Kingdom.
The forum opened with a video highlighting the sector’s progress in the Kingdom, during which an emphasis was placed on the forum’s ability to create global reach, representation, as well as agreements worth a cumulative $50 billion
With the Kingdom now opening up real estate ownership to foreigners, this year’s Real Estate Future Forum is placing a great deal of importance on this new milestone and its desired outcomes and impact on the market.
Aside from this year’s forum’s unique discussions surrounding those developments, it will also be the first of its kind to launch the Real Estate Excellence Award and announce its finalist during the three-day summit.
Minister of Municipalities and Housing and Chairman of the Real Estate General Authority Majed Al-Hogail took to stage to address the diverse audience on the real estate market’s achievements thus far and its milestones to come.
Of those important milestones, he underscored “real estate balance” as a key pillar of the sector’s decisions to implement regulatory tools “with the aim of constant growth which can maintain the vitality of this sector.” He pointed to examples of those regulatory measures, such as the White Land Tax.
On 2025’s progress, the minister highlighted the jump in Saudi family home ownership, which went from 47 percent in 2016 to 66 percent in 2025, keeping the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 goal of 70 percent by the end of the decade on track.
He said the opening of the real estate market to foreigners is an indicator of the sector’s maturity under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He said his ministry plans to build over 300,000 housing units in Riyadh over the next three years.
Speaking to Arab News, Al-Hogail elaborated on these achievements, stating: “Today, demand, especially local demand, has grown significantly. The mortgage market has reached record levels, exceeding SR900 billion ($240 billion) in mortgage financing, we are now seeing SRC (Saudi Real Estate Refinance Co.) injecting both local and foreign liquidity on a large scale, reaching more than SR54 billion”
Al-Hogail described Makkah and Madinah as unique and special points in the Kingdom’s real estate market as he spoke of the sector’s attractiveness.
“Today, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has become, in international investment indices, one that takes a good share of the Middle East, and based on this, many real estate investment portfolios have begun to come in,” he said.
Al-Ahsa Gov. Prince Saud bin Talal bin Badr Al-Saud told Arab News the Kingdom’s ability to balance both heritage sites with real estate is one of its strengths.
He said: “Actually the real estate market supports the whole infrastructure … the whole ecosystem goes back together in the foundation of the real estate; if we have the right infrastructure we can leverage more on tourism plus we can leverage more on the quality of life … we’re looking at 2030, this is the vision … to have the right infrastructure the time for more investors to come in real estate, entertainment, plus tourism and culture.”
