Italia Economy, October 24, 2025. Interview with Marcello Carretta, Makeitalia Founder

For Makeitalia, human capital is the true engine of growth: meritocracy, continuous training, university partnerships, and initiatives like the Supply Chain Challenge represent strategic levers for nurturing young talent and strengthening business competitiveness. Alongside professional growth, the company promotes well-being and work-life balance to best empower its people, as well as training initiatives and new assets for businesses, according to Marcello Carretta, one of Makeitalia’s founders.

What past experiences guided you to this human capital management model?

«In the business world, and particularly in consulting, there is only one indispensable and essential asset: people. Since its founding, Makeitalia has always understood that to meet the expectations of its clients – often companies already leaders in their sector who expect further improvement from us – the team is fundamental.

Makeitalia’s constant growth over the years has been accompanied by the quantitative and qualitative growth of its team, supported by significant and continuous investment in internal training and development: mentoring programs, personalized growth paths, teamwork, and coaching initiatives. All of this has allowed us to cultivate talent, especially among younger individuals, transforming them into the professionals of tomorrow. We invest heavily in bringing out the best: meritocracy is the watchword at Makeitalia».

What are your major initiatives that have highlighted the theme of “employee growth = company growth”?

«Since its founding, Makeitalia has made a clear choice: to focus on young people, cultivating their talent and bringing out the best. This was not an obvious or simple choice, especially in a country like Italy, where ‘gerontocracy’ often prevails over merit.

We have thus built a solid relationship with universities, our natural talent pool. This relationship is well represented by the Supply Chain Challenge – the Italian Supply Chain championship, conceived and organized annually by Makeitalia. It is a competition aimed at the best Italian Management Engineering students, allowing them to engage with real-world cases, our consultants, and partners.

The Challenge concludes each year with the identification of the Italian Champion Team: the fourth edition, just completed, saw the participation of over 1,200 students representing more than 20 universities. This initiative is not only a way to introduce young people to the world of work but also an opportunity to spread the culture of Supply Chain Management and a moment of enrichment for everyone: Makeitalia, students, partners, and institutions (Emilia-Romagna Region, Municipality of Modena, Confindustria Emilia), who have supported us since the first edition».

How can these initiatives be interesting in the current Italian economic scenario, and what results can they achieve?

«The current macroeconomic scenario, constantly and rapidly changing, demands speed, adaptability, and continuous innovation. To avoid being expelled from the market, only one thing is needed: to have capable and well-prepared people on the team. There are no shortcuts.

We believe that initiatives like the Supply Chain Challenge or internal development programs are strategic levers for addressing today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. This applies to Makeitalia as it does to any company, in Italy and worldwide. Investing in young people today means having the opportunity to play the game tomorrow. Otherwise, it’s better to sit in the stands and watch others play».

What other corporate projects do you think can be implemented?

«In addition to investments in training and professional growth, we believe it is essential to continue with projects related to work-life balance. For us, employee well-being is a core value. It’s pointless to identify and develop talent if we don’t then put them in a position to perform at their best.

For this reason, we promote up to three days of smart working per week, offer welfare tools to support personal and family expenses, guarantee flexible hours and modern, comfortable work environments, and have activated continuous listening programs. We believe that only by finding a good balance between private and professional life can people fully express their potential and thus contribute to common growth».