Technological employment in Spain has opened an unexpected debate. While some statistics point to job destruction in key sectors such as programming, consulting, or telecommunications, other official indicators continue to reflect growth in affiliation in the sector.
That contrast has fueled doubts about whether the sector is facing a temporary adjustment after years of expansion or if a deeper change is beginning to be glimpsed, in a context in which artificial intelligence increasingly appears in the conversation about productivity and employment.
Added to this are movements in large technology and telecommunications companies, with layoffs and restructurings that have once again put the spotlight on the digital labor market.
Contradictory data
The main warning sign has come from the Active Population Survey. According to the data released this week, programming, consulting, and IT services would have lost 23,400 employed people in one year, a decrease of 4.4%. In telecommunications, the drop stands at 9.4%, while information services show an even greater decline.
Taken together, several technological branches would also accumulate setbacks greater than 5% from the highs reached in 2024. These data have opened the debate on whether the sector has entered a slowdown phase.
Faced with that photograph, other indicators offer a different image. Social Security affiliation data show growth in technological activities, with an increase of 3.48% and more than 21,000 additional affiliates, while sectoral barometers continue to place digital employment in expansion.
The TIC Monitor of Fundación VASS-Ceprede even points to growth of 2.1% in 2025 and record levels of contributors in digital services. The paradox is precisely that: while one statistic points to setbacks, others continue to show growth.
Large companies
That contrast has led many analyses to speak more of a slowdown than of widespread destruction of tech jobs. The idea that appears repeatedly is that of an adjustment after years of very intense growth, with a slower pace of hiring and signs of normalization.
From the employers' association Ametic, the moment has in fact been defined as a "cyclical adjustment", not as a structural deterioration of the sector.
Even so, business movements have fueled concerns. Telefónica led one of the major recent adjustments with a collective dismissal procedure (ERE) that initially proposed 6,088 layoffs, although in subsequent negotiations it was reduced and the final agreement set a minimum of 4,525 voluntary departures, with the possibility of exceeding 5,500 adhesions.
Capgemini announced a collective redundancy for up to 748 people in Spain and Inetum communicated an adjustment that could affect up to 5% of its national workforce.
In parallel, cuts have also been known in large international technology companies such as Meta or Microsoft, in a wave that has coincided with strong investments in artificial intelligence.
The Shadow of AI
Artificial intelligence appears in the background in a good part of the debate, linking part of the adjustments to automation and changes in routine tasks, especially in junior profiles, consulting, or certain technological services. Other approaches place more emphasis on business restructurings, efficiency, or cyclical changes.
Beyond the cyclical slowdown, there is a prior structural problem. Spain remains far from other European countries in the weight of ICT employment on the overall labor market, and various reports have been pointing out imbalances between talent demand, available training, and business structure.