Stellantis: after months spent at the Fiat plant in Serbia, Italian workers are about to return to Italy for another assignment.

After months spent 1,600 kilometers from home to support the industrial start-up of the Fiat Grande Panda, some Italian workers from Stellantis will begin to make their way in the opposite direction. The mission in Serbia, accepted as a necessity to avoid partial unemployment and guarantee a full salary, is gradually coming to an end for some of them.

From Serbia to Turin, the start of a counter-exodus

According to information reported by Milano Finanza, several Italian workers currently on assignment at the Kragujevac plant have begun their return to Italy. The aim is not necessarily to return to their original site, but rather to reposition themselves at Mirafiori in Turin. From the beginning of January, a significant group of workers, notably from Cassino, will leave Serbia to join the historic site in Piedmont. This return is not insignificant. It comes at a time when Stellantis has reaffirmed its commitment to Mirafiori, which is set to play a central role in Italy's industrial revival thanks to the new Fiat 500 hybrid.

The Serbian mission, a temporary solution

In 2025, almost 200 Italian workers from several of the Group's sites - Melfi, Pomigliano, Atessa and Cassino - agreed to go and work in Serbia. The choice was voluntary, but largely dictated by the situation in Italy, marked by prolonged periods of short-time working. In Kragujevac, these workers were mobilized to ensure the ramp-up of the Fiat Grande Panda, a strategic model assembled in Eastern Europe to contain production costs. As a previous testimonial had shown, this mobility enabled the Italian workers to return to full pay, sometimes over 2,000 euros thanks to overtimeIt also meant a lot of family distance and a far from idyllic daily life. But it also meant having to put up with a lot of family distance and a far from idyllic daily routine.

Mirafiori back on the map

If some workers are leaving Serbia today, it's because the prospects in Italy are changing. Stellantis is now banking heavily on Mirafiori, with the ambition of producing around 100,000 Fiat 500 hybrids a year by 2026. After a pre-series phase limited to around 6,000 units produced by the end of 2025, the Torino site is set to ramp up production rapidly. This dynamic not only attracts workers returning from Serbia, but also employees from other Italian plants. From Melfi to Termoli, where the gigafactory project has been abandoned, many workers say they are ready to move temporarily to Turin to take part in the industrial launch of the 500 hybrid, perceived as a more stable opportunity.

In Serbia, production continues to intensify

The start of the counter-exodus does not mean a slowdown in activity at Kragujevac. The Serbian plant is now operating at full capacity on the Grande Panda, with three shifts in place. From 2026 onwards, the workload will even increase with the assembly of the Citroën e-C3, whose annual volumes are estimated at around 40,000 units. Stellantis continues to rely on an international workforce to keep up with these production rates. In the absence of sufficient local candidates, who are paid around 600 euros a month, the group has recruited workers from Morocco, Algeria, Nepal and other Asian countries. An effective industrial strategy on paper, but one that is increasingly raising social issues.

Above all, the gradual return of some Italian workers confirms that the Serbian mission was never intended as a lasting solution. For the majority of the workers concerned, it was above all a means of getting through a difficult period, while waiting for more solid prospects in Italy.