“From Calabria to the USA for three years. Now I do smart work at Pizzo: it works even from a distance. And they promoted me”

I left Italy in August of 2016. I was taking a three month break in New York. I wanted to get out of the European comfort zone. It was a challenge, I wanted to grow.” 35-year-old engineer Roberto Seravulo It is originally from Calabria. The United States became his second home: “You work less and better,” he smiles. For two years he returned to Calabrian laceWhere he works in Smart Work for his company.

Bachelor’s degree in management engineering In 2011, master’s degree, also in engineering, in 2015, Roberto immediately began working for a large Italian car company. Then came the decision to accept the job offer United State. “I had to stay Three monthsI stayed Three years”, remember. On the day of departure, there was “excitement, the usual problems with visas, fear and desire to try work outside Europe: before me was a country with all its complexities, from health to safety. It was both a professional and a human challenge.”

Long live Roberto Bin Baltimore, New York, and Charleston. “The United States is where I felt at home, and in my opinion diversity is an asset, and New York is almost as if it were the capital of the world,” he says. Fatto.it. Wake up early in the morning, on the subway from Brooklyn to Manhattan, in the office until 6 p.m.: “Many of my colleagues were expats and we usually went for a beer before we got home.” On weekends, the city sizzles among cultural events, concerts, museums, and theaters. “There are many things to do or to see that three years is not enough.”

The differences between the two countries regarding the world of work are significant. “In New York you have many opportunities, that’s true, but only if you are. Native Americans or you are in possession green card With a permanent visa,” explains Roberto. In the United States, “in my experience,” people work less and better, especially in teams. In America, if you work late “you are considered incompetent,” he smiles. According to Roberto, Italians are welcomed and treated Highly respected by corporate America, thanks to the great cultural background they bring in. It lacks the atmosphere “that only the United States can offer: it’s like constantly living inside a movie.” Example Baltimore “There you can breathe the real America,” a New York Roberto found a community of international students and scholars along the way Charleston Remind him of “southern Italy”.

But for Roberto, Italy remains the most beautiful country in the world: “My relationship with my native country is wonderful, despite all its flaws. I love my country. ” In 2018, after the death of a relative he was close to, Roberto decided to return. “Since then my values ​​have changed. I prefer staying in two hours max from escaping from mine push protection. I would have lived another 5 or 6 years in the US without this aspect. Even if in the long run I think that Italy is better from a business point of view.” Thus, since 2019, Roberto accepted an offer from an Italian company, where he currently holds the position Strategic Commercial Manager“I deal with marketing and business plans,” he explains. Roberto also returned, benefiting from a government measure facilitating the return of “fugitive brains” and ensuring better economic treatment.

Today he works between Milan and Peso de Calabria, in the smart work 80% (he got, among other things, one Upgrade functional), because the results “are there even if you’re working remotely,” he adds. On the other hand, many of his colleagues “give up to go home”. For Roberto, the office is “just where you go to build the team, when you necessarily have to deal with others. If you work towards goals and have the right tools, you can work anywhere,” he explains. future? Keep working smart at Pizzo, or move to another Italian city, Rome, or Naples. Or maybe open one for the long haul private company. Returning to the United States is a sure option, but only for a limited time. Not for life. “Is my future wonderfully uncertain? I’ve never had certainty in my life – concludes – and sometimes Good“.