by Maximiliano Crocamo
Interview: Nadia Solazzo, the psychologist available through the Punto di Ascolto AntiMobbing
The Friuli Venezia Giulia region will allocate nearly €270,000 in 2025 to strengthen its anti-mobbing “listening centers,” designed to provide support for workers experiencing harassment, discrimination, or other forms of workplace distress.
The funding announcement came on Tuesday in Trieste, where Alessia Rosolen, the regional councillor for labor, presented the latest data on the use of these services.
“Ensuring workplaces based on equal opportunities and free of discriminatory phenomena is today a strategic responsibility for companies,” Rosolen said, noting both productivity concerns and broader issues of social sustainability. “The phenomenon of mobbing is far from marginal, and what stands out most are the percentages concerning women and the age of victims.”
The listening centers, active in Udine, Gorizia, Trieste, and Pordenone, assisted 341 people in the first half of 2025. Udine recorded the highest number of users at 147, followed by Gorizia (70), Trieste (63), and Pordenone (61).
The majority of those seeking help were women (67 percent), with men accounting for 33 percent. Nearly half of all cases involved individuals over the age of 51, underscoring what officials described as the growing vulnerability of older employees in the workforce.
Most of the individuals assisted held permanent contracts (88 percent), while 12 percent were temporary workers. The private sector accounted for the largest share of cases (72 percent), with the remaining 28 percent employed in the public sector.
The leading causes of workplace distress cited included socio-demographic factors (32 percent) and organizational changes within companies (21 percent). Other reported triggers included employee requests (20 percent), prolonged absences or leaves (18 percent), work-related injuries or illnesses (6 percent), and refusal of demands from others (4 percent).
The forms of harassment most frequently described included humiliation or criticism (32 percent), excessive workplace monitoring (25 percent), and the assignment of excessive tasks (15 percent). Lesser but still significant complaints involved marginalization (7 percent), task depletion (3 percent), repeated transfers, isolation, and lack of access to training or equipment.
The alleged perpetrators were slightly more likely to be men (52 percent) than women (48 percent). In three-quarters of cases, the harassment was attributed to a superior or employer; 21 percent to colleagues of equal rank; 3 percent to subordinates; and 1 percent to other situations.
Rosolen emphasized that regional investments in the listening centers have steadily increased since their creation in 2017. The expanded funding for 2025, she said, reflects the continued need for structured support systems to protect workers across the region.
