Employment speeds up in Spain, but most jobs are temporary

Global Business

Employment speeds up in Spain, but most jobs are temporary

Spain’s unemployment rate has steadily fallen over the past few years.

But, as CGTN’s Dan William’s reports, many of those new jobs may just be temporary.

The scars of long, harsh recession remain in Spain. Despite the economy’s growth, unemployment in Spain remains stubbornly high.

Unemployment in Spain remains at 19 percent, the second highest rate in the Eurozone only behind Greece.

And of the half a million jobs created over the past year, most are just temporary.

“When you hire young people for the firm, you don’t have an incentive to offer information, education, training because you don’t plan for them to stay in the company,” Madrid University Professor Gonzalo Gomez said.

Temporary contracts now account for 26 percent of the overall job market in Spain.

“What we have are improvised workers in this country, workers who struggle to make ends meet, who can pay their heating bills, the electricity,” Vice-Secretary General of the Spanish Workers Union Cristina Antonanzas said.

Adding to the employment issues in Spain is youth unemployment. Nearly 43 percent of those under the age of 25 in Spain are out of work.

“The problem is that the jobs that are on the market are either very badly paid or for short-terms. If you don’t accept it, you can be sure that someone else will,” job-seeker Amanda Leite said.

But analysts said the deep recession in Spain and the rest of Europe may have a bright lining. Officials are arguing an increase in entrepreneurship is taking hold in Spain, especially in Madrid. But, despite the job creation in Spain over the past few years, many say the employment market remains far from satisfied.