Most of the business fabric in Spain, 81.3%, is declared in favor of introducing adjustments to labor regulations to address absenteeism, according to the findings of the "Business Climate Study 2026" prepared by the Cámara de Comercio de España.
Among the companies that support these reforms, the most cited measures are strengthening control by mutual insurance companies (51.8%), more effective coordination among companies, mutual insurance companies and public health services (42.9%), and the possibility of exempting companies from the payment of benefits during sick leave (39.4%).
The report, based on 1,900 telephone interviews with companies headquartered in Spain and workforces of six or more workers, conducted by Sigma Dos between August 24 and September 24, 2026, analyzes labor absenteeism: the perception that companies have, its evolution over the last twelve months, and the actions and legislative changes they consider necessary.
29.4% of firms say that absenteeism has increased over the past year; 63.3% holds that it has remained unchanged, and 7.3% indicates that it has decreased.
The perception of the severity of the phenomenon varies depending on the size of the organization. In the overall business sector, 38.5% estimates that absenteeism is a very or fairly serious problem; this percentage rises to 73.7% in companies with 100 or more employees and falls to 27.8% among micro-SMEs with fewer than 9 workers. 61.5% sees it as a problem that is not very or not at all serious, and 84.8% of companies have not yet implemented specific initiatives to reduce it.
Rising supply prices, the main obstacle
The increase in supply prices ranks as the most frequently cited difficulty by Spanish companies. 42.1% includes it among the four most relevant obstacles they are facing today, ahead of the shortage of labor (32%), the increase in labor costs (29.7%), and fiscal pressure (29.3%).
Despite this context, six out of ten companies (60%) are very or fairly optimistic about the evolution of their activity in 2026 (49.1% quite optimistic and 10.9% very optimistic). This climate of confidence extends into 2027, a year in which the percentage of optimistic companies rises slightly to 60.6%.
Looking at the medium term, the dominant concern is the increase in labor costs, mentioned by 48.4% of companies. Next come tax pressure (39.7%), the lack of suitable professional profiles (38.5%), inflation (28.8%), and regulatory instability together with the increase in bureaucracy (27.3%).
As for the risks they perceive for the economy as a whole, geopolitical tensions and international conflicts take the top spot (43.3%), followed by the trend in energy prices and raw materials (39.8%), and the sociopolitical situation in Spain (37.1%).
The president of the Cámara de Comercio de España, José Luis Bonet, has highlighted that the results of this analysis show that companies face a double pressure: the increase in costs, which affects their day-to-day operations, and the uncertainty associated with an international environment that is increasingly volatile.
"In this scenario, providing stability and predictability to the business community must be a priority. We need companies to be able to focus their efforts on producing, investing, innovating, and creating jobs, rather than devoting increasing resources to dealing with costs and obstacles," he emphasized.
Business optimism for 2026 and 2027
In 2026, the level of optimism is higher among companies with 10 to 99 workers and reaches its highest levels in tourism, hospitality, and restaurants, where it exceeds 70%. On the opposite side are the smallest companies, with 6 to 9 employees, of which 46.2% say they are little or not at all optimistic. By line of activity, construction records the highest percentage of companies that are little or not at all optimistic, at 53.2%.
Looking ahead to 2027, almost half of the companies expects to increase its turnover: 48.6% in the domestic market and, among those operating in those destinations, 49.1% in the European Union and 49% in the rest of the world. In the opposite direction, 17.8% anticipates a drop in sales in Spain, 16.2% in the EU, and 20.1% in other markets. In addition, 68.3% plans to raise the selling prices of its products or services.
By sector, the most confident for 2027 are the rest of services (66.0%), tourism, hospitality, and restaurants (62.3%), and retail trade (61.9%). The agri-food sector stands out for its expectations of investment and acquisition of supplies outside Spain, while industry highlights its forecasts for exports to the EU.
At the opposite end is the construction sector, which concentrates the most negative forecasts for 2027. 50.8% of its companies declare that they are not very or not at all optimistic, and it is the only sector in which the balance of expectations for sales in Spain is negative (-13.1 percentage points). This implies that the percentage of companies that expects to reduce its sales is higher than that of those who trust in increasing them.
Critical view of the Spanish economy
Optimism regarding one’s own activity contrasts with a darker reading of how the economy as a whole will evolve. 47.9% of the companies anticipate a deterioration in economic activity in 2027, compared with 30.1% that trusts in an improvement.
Likewise, 72.6% forecast a worsening of inflation and 66.5% of labor costs. Negative expectations also stand out regarding consumption, which 51.9% believe will decrease, and regarding financing conditions, which 50.4% expect to worsen.