positive leaps in March 2015, when the single contract was introduced. Moreover, the spike of December 2016 clearly shows how the +51% shown in the preceding table was mostly driven by the willingness, on the part of businesses, to take advantage of contribution exemptions; as mentioned before, this was in fact the last month in which they were envisaged in such a generous way. This (perfectly sensible) behaviour did not in any case exclude the possibility that the same hirings would be seen subsequently, even without the exemption. What is evident is that the reduction in contributions had a significant impact on businesses’ decisional timeframes in terms of hirings. Graph 5.8 confirms numbers on average higher for all of 2015 and a strong effect from contribution reductions. Finally, an analogous argument goes for reading graph 5.9, where it is possible to observe a net discontinuity only for contractual typologies whose conversion is covered by the contribution exemption – that of permanent contracts.
THE TREND OF CONTRACTS AND THE MARKET AFTER THE INTRODUCTION OF THE JOBS ACT
93