The initial criticism came from Alessandra Zedda, former regional councilor for Labor and now a Cagliari city councilor: "Too many critical issues, the Permanente tender should be canceled." Current councilor Desirè Manca responded: "Just an IT problem." But now the procedure devised by the Region to facilitate the permanent hiring of precarious workers has come under fierce criticism from the Regional Council of Labor Consultants of Sardinia and the National Association of Labor Consultants – Sardinia's single union. They describe it as "mistakes, improvisation , and a 'click day' formula that no one supports."
In recent months, a statement reads, "we have witnessed a haphazard succession of deadlines, amendments, clarifications, and corrections, which has created a climate of ongoing uncertainty for businesses, workers, and professionals charged with implementing the measure. This situation highlights serious planning shortcomings and a lack of attention to the actual operational dynamics of work."
According to industry insiders, "the initial decision to set the deadline in December, a period already saturated with tax, social security, and payroll obligations, created obvious and predictable difficulties. Despite the specific reports made by the Constitutional Court," however, "the responses were partial, late, and inconsistent, with extensions continuing to fall on the same critical dates."
It's not over yet. The consultants point to a "further serious element: the cancellation of the call for proposals following a technical error, followed by its subsequent re-publication and the setting of a December 29th deadline, right in the middle of the holiday season. This decision confirms a management disconnected from the operational reality of firms and businesses."
Meanwhile, "the numerous corrections have introduced further uncertainty, with imprecise data and inconsistent guidance, forcing professionals and companies to continually make on-the-fly adjustments in an already highly critical context."
The chosen method, the " click day," also comes under fire, "a widely contested tool that is not supported by industry professionals. It turns active labor market policy measures into a race against time, penalizing the quality of applications, encouraging improvisation, and creating inequalities among companies, without any substantive assessment of the projects or actual employment needs."
Finally, the accusation: "It is unacceptable," the consultants argue, "that organizational errors, questionable technical choices, and inadequate tools be passed on to businesses and consultants, who operate responsibly to ensure the proper use of public resources. Employment policies require planning, clarity, and prior consultation, not constant adjustments and procedural oversight."
Councillor Manca's reply
"The December 19th and 22nd deadlines," states Labor Councilor Desirè Manca, "were specifically chosen to meet the requests of labor consultants, who had expressed the need for more time to submit applications than the initially scheduled deadlines." The Department emphasizes, however, that it cannot accept further requests for postponement: "Unfortunately," explains the Council member, "it is not possible to further postpone the date, because the Statutory Notice backdates the effectiveness to June 1, 2025. This restriction does not allow for any further delay: any further delay would render the intervention non-compliant with state aid regulations."
Regarding the progress of the windows already open, "December 19th saw an IT problem, despite the available resources having been exhausted, while the December 22nd window proceeded normally, again exhausting the available resources."
Taking into account the holidays and with the aim of guaranteeing operators an additional opportunity, "the administration has therefore decided to reopen the window on December 29th."
"We thought it was right," the councilor continued, "to identify December 29th as an additional available date, for the sake of maximum transparency and to avoid unequal treatment between those who already submitted applications on December 22nd and those who will be able to do so during this new reopening."
The councilor also clarifies that the click-day mechanism "responds to the very nature of the call, which requires a one-stop shop when there are limited financial resources and a large number of beneficiaries. "The click-day," she explains, "is a forced choice: if we were to submit the applications for evaluation, the entire process would grind to a halt, with the risk of slowing down the disbursement of benefits. At this time, there is nothing we can do about this."
Finally, the councilor reiterates "the administration's attention to the difficulties faced by labor consultants. We have carefully listened to the sector's concerns and have already met several requests," she concludes, "but a further postponement cannot be accepted, also given the limitations associated with the granting of de minimis aid for 2025. For these reasons, in the interests of consistency and transparency, we have decided to confirm the reopening of the window on December 29th."