One-Stop-Shop for international talents moving to Milan

When someone moves to a new city, the very first encounters with public services often set the tone for their entire experience. In Milan, these touchpoints are fragmented across multiple offices and websites, making bureaucracy one of the first and most complex barriers that newcomers face. Yet the long-term decision to remain in a city depends on much more than paperwork: it is shaped by the ability to build networks, find opportunities and feel integrated into the local culture.

Yes Milano, the organization founded by Comune di Milano and Camera di Commercio to promote tourism and talent development, asked oblo to rethink their One Stop Shop (OSS) for expats. The ambition was to design a smoother and more welcoming journey for international residents, transforming Milan from a city that is attractive to move to into one that people choose to stay in and grow with. At the same time, some obvious contraints and limits emerged since the beginning, such as the impossibility to influence burocratic processes managed by a variety of institutions (Agenzia delle Entrate, Polizia di Stato, Regione Lombardia, just to mention a few): we could only act on the informative layer and make those processes a bit easier to navigate.

Our process began with an immersion into the existing One Stop Shop and a benchmark analysis of other European models. From there, we shifted to conducting qualitative research with foreign professionals coming from different geographies and professional backgrounds to uncovered stories about their first weeks in Milan, highlighting both pain points and opportunities for the Yes Milano service. Some of the most critical elements emerged during the research were the fact that expat professionals often felt abandoned and unable to receive help (”I asked the HR at my work place how to get my codice fiscale, but she didn’t know…”), and that over-relying on physical touchpoints for information and support could be an additional barrier (”I’m frightened when I have to call for a specific service, or go to a physical info-points […] The best way for me would be to interact via whastapp because there I can carefully read the messages, check the translation and make sure not to make mistakes in my requests”).

The outcome was a service strategy structured around three key phases. The first is “orient”, providing newcomers with essential information and services to set up their lives in Milan. This has been achieved by interventions such as improving the storytelling of Milan on the Yes Milano touchpoints, creating a “getting started guide” on their website, and distributing informational content through quick “how to” video on Tik Tok. The second is “stabilise”, supporting expat integration into the city’s social systems and communities. This opportunity area was defined around ideas such as the possibility to provide support to cultural organizations in the city to deliver more inclusive events, the creation of international talents’ gatherings and peer-to-peer mentoring services. The third is “expand”, offering resources and opportunities for professional and entrepreneurial growth, enabling expats to contribute to and benefit from Milan’s development. This step could be achieved by reinforcing the map of start-ups in Milan, as well as by recording stories of different foreigners who established their life in Milan, to foster inspiring reference models in the community.

The revised OSS “how to work in Milan” is now available on the Yes Milano website, and more initiatives and actions are coming to life year after year, inspired by this foundational research and strategy.