The Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) has highlighted the capacity of the business fabric to maintain jobs, although it has warned that the persistence of structural imbalances in the labor market, the difficulties in filling vacancies, and the deterioration still affecting microenterprises require a regulatory framework that boosts employability and strengthens their competitiveness and growth capacity.
After the unemployment and Social Security affiliation data for the month of July became known, the employers' association emphasized in a statement the role of companies in sustaining employment, promoting the increase in affiliation, and improving the quality of hiring, in an economic and geopolitical scenario marked by uncertainty.
According to the business organization, the commitment of Spanish companies to employment has allowed for a new historical maximum of affiliation to Social Security, with 22,508,065 contributors, after adding an average of 41,727 new registrations in July. This evolution contrasts with the increase of 19,517 people registered in unemployment lists.
"The private sector continues to be the main engine of job creation in Spain, thanks to the sustained effort of companies to maintain and promote hiring in a complex economic environment," highlighted the organization led by Antonio Garamendi.
In parallel, the employers' association emphasizes that the gradual improvement in the quality of employment continues, as nearly four out of ten contracts signed in July were of an indefinite nature and the temporary employment rate remains around 13.4% of affiliates.
Impact of the regularization of foreign workers
"Although affiliation has reached record levels, the evolution of the indicators must be interpreted with caution considering the effect of the regularization process of foreign workers, which is positively contributing to the growth of affiliation," the employers' association has pointed out.
CEOE explains that part of these individuals may also be entering the unemployment statistics in order to access labor insertion programs or facilitate their hiring through incentives and bonuses in social contributions.
This situation, according to the business organization, conditions the comparability of the affiliation and unemployment figures with those of previous years and should be considered when analyzing the evolution of the labor market, in a manner similar to the impact that the fires are having.