Italy

Italian capitalism has a solid tradition of social responsibility, good citizenship and sustainability. The Italian government has always considered CSR a strategic and competitive opportunity for companies. In general, Italian firms show a positive attitude towards CSR. We surveyed students enrolled in bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Bari ‘Aldo Moro’. Hierarchical cluster analysis evidenced the existence of two groups of prospective employees, roughly symmetrically different in their standardised preference profiles: the first highly interested in ‘companies’ and ‘workplace’ dimension attributes, the second more inclined towards ‘socio-ecological’ and ‘ethical’ qualities. Highly significant gender differences are also evidenced, implying that corporations with large female labor force or aiming at hiring graduated female workers should pay greater attention to CSR related attributes. Finally, Italian socio-cultural traits are evident in the widespread inclination towards work-life balance and working-atmosphere qualities.