The Association of Manufacturing and Distribution Companies (Aecoc) this Friday has put the focus on the shortage of skilled labor, training, and generational renewal as some of the “main challenges” that today’s consumer goods labor market faces in order to sustain and enhance business competitiveness. The employers’ organization has also drawn attention to the 160,000 jobs that continue to go unfilled.
These reflections were raised during the 4th Aecoc Congress on Employment and Talent, where its president, Ignacio González, emphasized that the labor market is experiencing major changes stemming from demographic aging, digitalization, and the modification of the expectations of the new generations.
Against this backdrop, González stressed that companies are obliged to rethink their policies to attract and retain talent, strengthen their positioning as employers, and offer their workforces real options for professional development, flexibility, and well-being.
In his remarks, he pointed to the gap that exists between what companies demand and the training of workers. In Spain, “important” pockets of unemployment coexist with close to 160,000 vacancies, which, according to consumer goods, shows the urgency of rolling out training programs connected with the “real” needs of the different sectors and aimed at facilitating effective entry into employment, as the association states in a communiqué.
The president of Aecoc also called for advancing toward better designed immigration policies, which would allow professionals to be added in those activities where it is more difficult to find staff, by betting on strengthening hiring at the source and by articulating effective pathways for integration into the labor market.
AGAINST “UNJUSTIFIED” LABOR ABSENTEEISM
González also pointed to “unjustified” labor absenteeism as one of the factors that most worries companies due to its direct effect on productivity, the increase in costs, and the internal organization of work. At the same time, he warned of the obstacles to ensuring generational renewal in key trades for the functioning of the sectors grouped under Aecoc, such as fishmongers, butchers, maintenance staff, hardware store owners, or truck drivers.
To conclude, the president has defended the need to tighten collaboration between companies, administrations, universities, and Vocational Training centers as a fundamental tool to respond to the challenges of the labor market and preserve the competitiveness of businesses, as the association details.