In Italy there has been a boom in temporary contracts within public service jobs with this figure rising by a strong +263% in the past decade, particularly in the healthcare industry.

Official figures also show that the number of employees on fixed-term contracts has risen by +19.5% in that same period.

This is according to data published by the Italian Cortei di conti which carries out audit and jurisdictional work in the country.

The organisation said that the strong growth of temporary workers in the public sector has been particularly evident within regional and local authorities, and the national health service. But the number of temporary contracts contracted in social service related jobs by nearly -69%.

It said that the number of workers working overall on fixed-term contracts had risen from 87,273 in 2001 to 104,339 in 2010. For temporary workers, this figure had quadrupled from 3,542 to 12,856 in that same period.

The figures also show that the State has increased spending on training temporary workers to a total of €653 million. The local media said that this rise in temporary employment had mainly been an increase of “precariousness” in the public sector.