Rome, January 19, 2026 — Italian authority has opened a formal investigation into suspected “no-poach” arrangements in the packaging machinery ecosystem, focusing on alleged agreements not to hire certain technical workers involved in industrial validation activities.
In decision adopted on December 22, 2025, the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) said it received a whistleblowing report on March 3, 2025 alleging that several companies systematically prevented “validators” — employees engaged in validating machinery, systems, products or processes — from moving between the firms. According to the report summarized by the authority, experienced validators seeking to change employers allegedly faced refusals based on their company of origin.
The probe concerns I.M.A. Industria Macchine Automatiche (IMA), Coesia and its subsidiary G.D., engineering and services provider Akkodis Italy, and three firms linked to IMA through minority shareholdings — I.E.M.A., S.I.A., and SPAIQ. The authority described the relevant industrial context as Italy’s high-technology “packaging valley,” with a concentration of major operators and specialized suppliers in Emilia-Romagna, including the Bologna area.
AGCM framed the alleged conduct as potentially restrictive “by object” under Article 101 TFEU, noting that no-poach agreements can harm competition in labor markets by limiting mobility, reducing employees’ ability to obtain better pay and career opportunities through employer rivalry, and potentially weakening productivity and innovation by restricting the flow of skills and know-how.
The authority said the market impact should be assessed primarily in the labor market for validators of automatic machinery and components used in packaging and processing for sectors including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food, tea, coffee and tobacco. The geographic scope appears, at least initially, to be local, linked to labor flows around the Bologna area, though a broader scope is not excluded.
AGCM set a 60-day window for parties to request a hearing and said the investigation is scheduled to conclude by June 30, 2027.
Source: https://www.agcm.it/dotcmsdoc/bollettini/2026/3-26.pdf
