Overqualified, exploited, poorly paid. 8 out of 10 cultural workers earn less than 15 thousand euros a year

Overqualified but exploited, poorly paid, lacking stability, unable to build a peaceful future: this is the sad picture of many cultural professionals, according to data collected by the movement Mi Riconosci? I am a cultural heritage professional, which dedicated its investigation The Dark Side of Cultural Heritage to the working conditions of those working in the cultural sector. And the results are far from comforting.

The survey was conducted among 1,546 professionals. “The development and arrangement of the data,” Daniela Pietrangelo of Mi Riconosci lets us know, “took a long time. It was quite complex to try to bring order to an incredibly complex and multifaceted situation like cultural work, which is based on so many forms of contract in use, understanding those who do not have a contract how they are framed. The means we used to collect data are very simple, we don’t have specific programs. We collected the data, cleaned it up, and tried to cross-reference some of the answers to get a much more detailed picture.We then read the more than 350 testimonies that the workers left us at the end of the questionnaire, many really touching. They told us about the many difficulties, the impossibility of continuing to do underpaid work, many perform multiple tasks without any recognition even economically, many complain about hours out of paycheck that are not calculated in the salary; stress from exhausting shifts with lunch breaks almost investments, some are forced to eat on the floor and much more.”

The data cover professionals of all ages. 11 percent are between 19 and 26 years old, 65 percent are between 27 and 39 years old, the 40-49 age group is 16 percent, professionals between 50 and 59 years old are 6 percent, while those over 60 years old surveyed represent 2 percent of the sample. As anticipated, qualifications are very high: 56 percent of respondents have a master’s or master’s degree, 15 percent have completed their studies at a graduate school, 3 percent have a postgraduate degree, 8 percent have a PhD, 1 percent have a degree from an Academy of Fine Arts or otherwise an AFAM institution, while 17 percent of the sample are bachelor’s graduates. Regarding the place of work: 29.33% work at the museum, 15.94% work at the library, 15.7% work at private institutions (foundations, cooperatives, associations, companies, etc.), 11.84% at a construction site, 5.37% at archives, 4.74% at other public institutions (e.g., municipalities, provinces, regions), 4.55% at an archaeological park, 3.64% at university, 2.28% at a theater, 1.73% at a superintendency, 1.46% at a school, 1.46% at an exhibition space, 1% at an art gallery, 0.27% at a nature park, and 0.82% at other locations. Of the respondents, 28% reported working at more than one location at the same time. In 33.58% of cases the employer is a cooperative, 23.74% a private entity of another nature, 23.30% a public entity, 13.98% are mixed entities, 5.18% non-profit or nonprofit foundations, other employers account for 0.22%.

In 75% of cases, the workers surveyed have a contract. They work on permanent contracts for 34.17% of respondents. All others have fixed-term or other contracts: permanent contracts 22.26%, on-call 10.56%, co.co.co. 9.04%, project 6.70%, 6.17% are in civil service, internships 5.65%, research fellowship 2.35%, apprenticeship 1.48%, temporary or temp 1.22%. Workers without a contract (25 percent of respondents) work with a VAT number in 33 percent of cases (a choice forced on them by the employer for 78 percent of respondents), on a casual basis in 53 percent, on expense reimbursement in 13 percent, and in other forms in 1 percent of cases.

Let us now turn to wages: the majority, 62%, earn less than 12 euros per hour, 45% less than 8 euros. Specifically: 34.02% earn between 4 and 8 euros, 28.28% between 8 and 12 euros, 11.54% less than 4 euros, 8.17% between 12 and 16 euros, 4.41% between 16 and 20 euros. Only 6% earn more than 20 euros per hour: 2.46% between 25 and 30 euros, 2.40% between 20 and 25 euros, 1.04% between 30 and 40 euros, 0.58% between 40 and 50 euros, 0.19% more than 50 euros. Annual earnings are also very low: 80% report less than 15 thousand euros (38% less than 5 thousand euros per year, 25% between 5 and 10 thousand euros, 17% between 10 and 15 thousand euros). Earnings between 15 and 20 thousand euros for 11% of respondents, between 20 and 30 thousand euros for 8%, between 30 and 40 thousand euros for 1%. On average, those who manage to have principals of a different nature earn more. On the other hand, the most disadvantaged according to the research are workers employed by public administrations and cooperatives, which according to Mi Riconosci make extensive use of very low-cost labor, with wages as low as less than 4 euros per hour. The most pronounced inequalities, on the other hand, occur at those working for foundations or nonprofits, where workers who earn less than 4 euros per hour are found alongside those who earn as much as 40 to 50 euros per hour. It has tended to be found that educational qualifications are not a guarantee of better wages. Finally, 75 percent say they receive regular contractual wages, while only 59 percent say they worked the amount of hours corresponding to what they received pay for. Only 40% say their job title and skills match the tasks they performed (somewhat for 42%, no for 18%).

“The goal of this survey,” Ester Lunardon, also a Mi Riconosci activist, told us, "is definitely to shine a spotlight on this reality, which is shocking, and yet has long remained unknown to the uninitiated: certainly, everyone who works in the sector knows the situation, but when someone who is not in the sector learns, for example, that 80 percent of people working in culture earn less than 15 thousand euros a year, then the most widespread reaction is one of astonishment, even before indignation, because this is precisely a reality that has long been left in the shadows. And this is also why we decided to titular the investigation The Dark Side in Cultural Heritage."

These are striking figures, Pietrangelo echoes her. “We wonder why no one is monitoring this? Why is it that despite having a specific contract, a good contract, this is not enforced by law? It is absurd that only the interests of cultural enterprises are always being served. Who protects and defends the workers?”

The Mi Riconosci data will be presented in a calendar of meetings around Italy: the first dates are Nov. 4 in Viterbo, Nov. 5 in Rome, Nov. 8 in Ancona, Nov. 13 in Matera and Cagliari, and Nov. 14 in Padua, while other meetings will be announced soon on the movement’s Facebook page. Three demands made by culture professionals also emerge from the survey: a regulation limiting the use of volunteers, a new regulation reviewing the criteria for contracting and outsourcing, and theapplicability of the right national collective bargaining agreement for culture workers. “There is a bill,” Lunardon adds, “that we have put forward that has long been ignored, but by continuing to talk about the topic and seeking media attention we reiterate the fact that the need to regulate volunteerism is increasingly evident. And then also a new large part of our problems and working conditions arise precisely from outsourcing, from the contracting system that provides no protection for workers. Finally, we also ask for rules for the application of the right national collective agreements: the Federculture contract, which does exist, is applied only 7 percent of the time.”

“Our survey,” Pietrangelo concludes, “although based on a small sample, is nonetheless significant. And we are very surprised that such an analysis was not conducted and requested by those who should control and tutal our working conditions. We now expect a strong stance to be taken by the politicians and the minister and for sensible laws to be created.”

Overqualified, exploited, poorly paid. 8 out of 10 cultural workers earn less than 15 thousand euros a year

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