Webuild, CEO Salini: Group joins Italian public institutions to grow Italian Infrastructure System with social measures

MILAN, September 13, 2023 – Lawfulness, specialisedwork and training are the words spoken at the roundtable between Webuild and Italy’s Ministry of Justice concerning the employment and re-integration of prisoners in our civil society. Today, the Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Prison Administration (Dipartimento dell'Amministrazione Penitenziaria) to create and expand employment opportunities for prisoners, all the while helping to make up for the lack of qualified personnel that the construction sector is facing nationally, commencing from the south of Italy. 

“Prison work contributes to ensuring greater harmony among the sections. It guarantees an opportunity to re-educate prisoners, reducing the risk of a return to crime. I thank Webuild, another partner that will work alongside the Department of Prison Administration to improve the quality of the time spent by prisoners, which in turn improves safety in our country. The work and training offered inside prisons are not to be seen as a reward, but as the most useful tool to make people better, and to fight illegal behaviour, both inside and outside these prisons,” said Undersecretary Andrea Ostellari as he signed the memorandum.

Department Director Giuseppe Russo spoke with satisfaction, saying: “The possibility of getting a job or professional training that could lead to getting employed in prison or when one has finished one's time there is one – if not the main – driver to reach the objective of recovering prisoners and reintegrating them in our civil society. This is the mission of the Department of Prison Administration, pursuant to Article 27 of the Italian Constitution. Today, I would like to say a big thank you to the Webuild Group for having accepted to share with us this common journey and an important social investment," said Mr. Russo.

“Webuild, as a large company of the system, is called upon to participate in a greater role with the public institutions, companies, and civil society. As we sign this memorandum today, we are creating new opportunities in our sector to re-integrate prisoners in our civil society, combining a support to those needing new professional opportunities with the development of Italian infrastructure. Hiring personnel, even if not qualified, together with an investment plan for training, is crucial to create a more cohesive society. This comes in addition to the actual implementation of the PNRR (National Plan for Recovery and Resilience), to ensure a lasting and fair growth," said Webuild Group Chief Executive Pietro Salini.

The memorandum, which follows the one signed by the Group last July with the Arma dei Carabinieri (on corporate security and legality), has an important social impact. Webuild offers the DAP, freely and independently, its commitment to employ prisoners to whom this initiative is addressed, to whom it will freely offer training, the means, equipment and materials as part of the programme. The Department, through its regional dependencies, commits to identifying the prisoners who, during their remaining time in prison, have the aptitude to potentially start professional training. 

The initiative allows the Group to employ and train specialised personnel so that they help build 31 infrastructure projects in Italy – from the high-capacity railway lines in Sicily to the Genoa breakwater to Rome's Metro C – adding itself to the Group’s other recruiting plans for the new generations, the unemployed, and anyone else wishing to work on highly innovative and technological construction sites.