Consciously addressing social and environmental challenges is a necessary condition for tackling the uncertainty and complexity of the present and “creating futures of value”. This idea is central to the theme of the 2025 edition of the “Salone della CSR e dell'innovazione sociale”. The cultural event, now in its 13th year, is promoted by the Bocconi University, Sustainability Makers, Global Compact Network Italia, ASviS, Fondazione Sodalitas, Unioncamere, and Koinètica. The event, held in Milan from 8th to 10th October, touched upon various topics, including training, work, culture, economics, finance, the environment, governance, leadership, innovation, and impact. Pirelli's contribution was part of a multi-voice dialogue between businesses, consulting firms, and third-sector associations, specifically within the panel entitled: Innovating welfare programmes: towards corporate well-being.
A partner of the Exhibition since 2015, Pirelli boasts over 150 years of history and “since its foundation, has always believed that welfare was a leverage for social and internal inclusion towards all employees”, recalls Donatella De Vita, Global Head of Welfare, Engagement and DE&I programmes at Pirelli. At the end of the nineteenth century, the welfare state did not yet exist, but driven by the movement of the British entrepreneur and social reformer Robert Owen, companies led by pioneering entrepreneurs like Pirelli and Olivetti had already grasped that working well and being well were intrinsically linked. “Pirelli was among the first companies to invest heavily in schools and holiday colonies for children, and to understand the importance of paid holidays for its employees”, says De Vita. She also highlights that a significant turning point in the history of welfare occurred between the 1960s and 1990s, when social representatives acquired an increasingly important role and governments began introducing measures of ‘State welfare'. “It was at that moment that some companies decided to withdraw and entrust the issue to legislators, while others, like Pirelli, chose to invest in complementary welfare. Since then, the situation has become highly diversified from company to company.”.
Today, the objective is to transform welfare by making it less exclusively connected to income support and orienting it also towards well-being across its various dimensions: physical, social, psychological, and financial. “These are the four dimensions we operate on, because for us, taking care of people's well-being means being credible. And you are credible when you are systemic”. Looking ahead, the corporate goal is to conceive and design welfare initiatives, integrating them with future strategies. This involves thinking within a broader framework that includes, for example, initiatives for promoting internal inclusion as well as external social inclusion. “This is very important to us. We believe that adhering to this approach also means giving something back to the communities through corporate volunteering. This practice connects people and allows the skills generated by the internal community to be put to good use in service of the external community”.
The hope for the coming years is, essentially, a decisive move beyond widespread or redistributive welfare towards a more personalised and flexible model. To this end, a more international perspective will be needed from legislators. They must, on the one hand, provide greater clarity, simplification, and stabilisation of regulations and, on the other, invest in education projects for SMEs. This is so that, thanks to collaboration between large companies and employer associations, best practices can be disseminated.
