Abstract for: Military Workforce Dynamics and Planning in the Italian AirForce

In the past 15 years the Italian Armed Forces have undertaken a massive change process, trying to transform and modernize the military instrument of power. The abolition of conscription, the consequent “professionalization” of the workforce and a drastic reduction in the overall personnel strength are the main features of this endeavor. With regards to the latter aspect, Human Resource Management and Military Workforce Planning have become of crucial importance in the efforts to meet the requirements introduced by a State Law in 1997. January 1st 2015 is the deadline to reach the target personnel strength for each service and a newly defined internal balance of promotion rates and number of people in every rank. This paper aims at describing where does the Italian Air Force stand in terms of workforce planning and , limiting its insight to the “aircrews” service branch (pilots and navigators), will describe the impact of the above mentioned transformation. Additionally the goal is to explore potential management policies able to guarantee the achievement of the given objectives.