Given that here in southern Italy they're usually paid 1/5 of their nominal wage, I'm not surprised. A few companies I've worked with would have folded if they

Given that here in southern Italy they're usually paid 1/5 of their nominal wage, I'm not surprised. A few companies I've worked with would have folded if they had to pay most of their employees what's written on their salaries. Even while working for bigger european/US companies there's always a tacit expectation that you're gonna work twice the time it's actually written in your contract. And I'm not talking just about low-level positions, I've met junior automotive engineers whose actual wage wouldn't go north of 10€/hr.