The signing of contracts for employees over 45 years of age in October has fallen by 19,726 agreements compared with September and by 21,782 compared with the same month of the previous year, according to SEPE statistics analyzed by the Fundación Más Sénior, which again highlight the unfavorable position of this group in the labor market.
In this scenario, the Fundación Más Sénior emphasizes that these figures show the barriers to accessing employment for this age group. Of the 1,491,069 contracts registered in Spain in October, only 26.35% corresponded to people over 45 years of age.
Another of the elements that weighs down the working situation of seniors is long-term unemployment. While 32.7% of the total number of unemployed people have been looking for work for more than a year, among those over 55 years of age this rate rises to 52.8%.
The general director of the Fundación Más Sénior, Sonia Catalán, has stressed that, despite the fact that the general figures for the labor market are positive, it cannot be considered that this market works “fully” while part of the country’s talent and experience continues to face obstacles to joining a job position.
According to the latest Labor Force Survey (EPA), corresponding to the third quarter of 2026, in Spain there are 510,000 people over 55 years of age who are unemployed. This group accounts for around 20% of total unemployment, which stands at 2,613,200 people.
According to the foundation, the gender gap is also clearly reflected in senior unemployment. At the end of September, in Spain there were 284,800 women over 55 years of age unemployed, compared with 225,200 men, meaning that they account for about 56% of the unemployed in this age bracket.
At the same time, in the last twelve months self-employed workers have lost 104,700 workers. This development, according to the organization, hits especially a key segment of the senior group, since almost half of those affiliated with the Special Scheme for Self-Employed Workers (RETA) are over 50 years old.