Katherine Davidson (Schroders) | More than 114 million people lost their jobs over 2020, according to the International Labor Organization. Even more saw their working hours and wages cut. It may seem counter-intuitive, but the post-pandemic recovery is seeing a shortage of labour – pushing up wages and shifting the balance of power in workers’ favour for the first time in decades.
Social Security registers a record high of 19,500,277 people affiliated in June in Spain, In addition, there are still 447,800 people affected by temporary layoffs. Infojobs conjectures that the trend of job creation will consolidate in the medium term. With Social Security enrollment at an all-time high and the European funds still to arrive, is a real opportunity 20 million people working in Spain?
Javier Andrés & Rafael Domenech (BBVA) | Our labor regulations make it difficult to hire people on permanent rather than temporary contracts, as severance costs are higher, there is legal uncertainty with layoffs and inflexibility when companies have to face economic, technical, organizational or production changes.
The Secretary General of the OECD, Ángel Gurría, yesterday presented the “Economic Survey of Spain 2021” together with the Vice-President for Economic Affairs, Nadia Calviño. The document is an amendment to the labour policy proposed by the Spanish government in its entirety. It warns of the high impact of the coronavirus crisis on the Spanish economy and rejects a tax hike until the economic recovery is consolidated. It also asks…
At first glance, the “scar” on total employment looks set to be less deep than after the 2008 financial crisis. However, at the sectorial level, the shock may turn out to be deeper or longer lasting. One example is tourism, one of the sectors most affected by the pandemic and one of the most labour-intensive. These sectorial divergences may have consequences for the pace of recovery in European countries depending on their degree of exposure to tourism.
Randstad Research | Unemployment in Spain increased by 44,436 people in the month of February compared to January thus raising the number of jobless people to 4,008,789, a barrier not surpassed since April 2016, reflecting the restrictions impossed to deal with the third wave of the pandemic. Similarly, ther was an increases of 160,000 people in the number of furloughed employees, bringing the total to 899,383.
The Government will approve in the coming weeks to earmark €11 Bn in subsidies for companies, SMEs and the self-employed in sectors particularly affected by the economic crisis, such as tourism, hotels, restaurants and small businesses. The aid plan could include haircuts on the financing provided by the Official Credit Institute ICO, which has offered €140 Bn in guarantees. The employers’ associations from the retail and hotel and catering sectors had demanded €12.5 Bn in aid from the different administrations in order to save both industries.
Josep Mestres Domènech (CaixaBank Research)| In times of crisis, the reduction in employment traditionally occurred in Spain through a significant destruction of jobs, while in periods of expansion job creation was rapid. This has not been the case in this crisis. For the first time, the declines in GDP have been accompanied by a much smaller reduction in employment. This is not only due to the unique nature of this crisis, which originated in the health sphere, but also due to a very different response from economic policy.
Bankia Estudios | Last year ended with the loss of more than 100,000 Spanish companies, a fall of 360,105 Social Security affiliates – the first decline in seven years – and an increase of 724,532 unemployed. It must be added 755,613 workers under temporary lay-offs programs and 349,342 self-employed receiving extraordinary unemployment benefits; in other words, more than 1.1 million people who, although technically still considered employed, are not actually working or are working reduced hours.
Randstand Research | The labor market records in November reflect a relatively negative performance against the path of recovery that was observed during the previous four months. Social Security affiliation in November increased by 31,638 people, a 0.17% increase, the best figures in that month since 2006, but it masks a rising in those affected by temporary layoffs of 147.000 during that month. The total number of contributors exceeds the threshold of 19 million (namely 19.02 million people).