Italy trains Moroccan butchers to fill supermarket jobs amid labor shortage
Thirty-eight Moroccans have completed training in Casablanca for butcher departments in Italian supermarkets. The program, designed to address recruitment difficulties in Italy, prepares candidates to work in Conad stores through a professional immigration scheme that allows them to bypass the usual quotas.
Italy is short of skilled workers in the retail sector and is looking to Morocco for some of its future employees. On Monday, November 2, 38 Moroccan butchers were due to receive their certificates at the Casablanca-Settat City of Trades and Skills, in the presence of Italy’s ambassador, Pasquale Salzano, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.
On Bladi.net : Italian steelmakers recruit 30 Moroccan technicians to address skills shortage
The candidates were prepared to join the butcher departments at Conad, one of Italy’s major supermarket chains. Their training, organized entirely in Morocco, combined Italian language instruction with professional skills tailored to the needs of the stores.
The project is led by recruitment agency Synergie Italia, with several Italian and Moroccan partners, including the Luna association and the City of Trades and Skills.
Initially planned for 40 participants, the program was approved by Italy’s Ministry of Labor on July 27, 2026. Thirty-eight people ultimately completed their training, according to figures released by the embassy.
Recruitment possible outside the usual quotas
The initiative is based on Article 23 of Italy’s immigration legislation. The scheme allows foreign nationals who have completed approved vocational and language training in their home country to be recruited in Italy outside the annual quotas set by the Flussi decree.
The Italian employer must apply for a work permit for the candidate, who must then obtain a visa. The 38 Moroccans have completed their training, but their actual arrival in Italy and the signing of their contracts have not yet been announced.
For Ambassador Pasquale Salzano, this preparation before departure addresses the concrete needs of Italian businesses. He also notes that Morocco, with its industrial growth, needs skilled workers itself. The stated aim is to develop mobility programs that take the economic needs of both countries into account.
