Youth employment and unemployment is a well-known structural problem in the Spanish labor market. X-rays of youth employment show that people under 30 are essentially employed in low-paying sectors, suffer unemployment higher than the national average and lead youth unemployment in Europe. Uncertain working conditions are also associated with greater temporality, in many cases against the will of a segment of the population, highlighting evidence that training is necessary to access better jobs.
Youth unemployment (up to the age of 24, in this case) is around 30%, more than 16 points higher than the national unemployment rate for all ages combined. separating those who are looking for work and cannot find it from those who are currently employed, Over 900,000 youth start careers in low-wage sectors: necessarily, hospitality and business With a difference compared to construction – a sector whose salaries attracted youth in the 2000s real estate boom – or industry, which employs about 300,000 youth and has a higher salary range, according to Javier Blasco, director According to , represent this medium.
It’s a vicious cycle that is fed back by meritocracy. it is statistically proven The higher the level of training, the higher the employment rate and the less unemployment affects young people, In fact, despite the fact that young people under 30 with a high level of training suffer unemployment of 16%, this endemic disease rises to almost 36% for those with a low level of training more than training. double, according to INE data. This is also pointed out by Carlos Pitart of ManpowerGroup.
Importance of training
“There is a strong wage premium based on training,” says Gregorio Izquierdo, general director of the Institute for Economic Studies (IEE), which suggests a direct correlation between wages and training and experience. This is reflected in the annual figures of the Active Population Survey (EPA), which show an average of 1,234 euros gross for young people up to the age of 24 and 1,366 euros gross for those workers – of any age – who have finished maximum compulsory education. came to do
In the case of the hotel industry, the average monthly salary before taxes barely exceeds 1,200 euros. A similar situation is with the wholesale trade, which according to Statistics reports a gross salary of 1,670 euros.
And, bearing in mind that those who have it most raw are those who neither study nor work (ninis): Spain closes last year with more than 931,000 ninis, more than in 2021.
Impermanence and difficult access
The global challenge for youth wishing to enter the labor market goes beyond the enormous barrier represented by the youth unemployment rate itself. Once you’re inside the wheel, the next step is to improve your working conditions, which can be translated into stability beyond wages, And it’s no easy task, at least for nearly half of people under the age of 30 ( 45%) who are currently employed in Spain.
Thus, temporary employment affected almost half of young people in Spain in the third quarter of last year. From ManpowerGroup, he emphasizes that employment at an early age can serve as a complementary tool to studies. However, it is necessary to specify that half of these storms occur precisely against their will.
From Adecco they believe so The reduction in temporary employment has not benefited the youth labor reforms; On the contrary, they believe they are most affected by alternative formulas to the old temporary contract: abuse of the trial period (and dismissal after this stage, which multiplied by seven last year) or the extension of an indefinite contract with low pay. 33 days dismissal for profiles with. Meanwhile, the champion’s black medal in youth unemployment is repeated every month, once the labor statistics are known.
Off record contracts in formation
The law has done the noose. Production contracts are essentially temporary, and permanent firms also have a trace of temporaryity due to the fixed-discontinuous contractual figure. And there are two threads used in young people that prevent the problem of temporality from being rectified.
before difficulty accessing the labor market The training centers can also act as a link with the companies. However, the trend observed in training and apprenticeship contracts has been downward since 2015. In the midst of the crisis, training contracts increased by more than 100,000 signatures and in 2015 they reached 161,000. However, as of October 2022, only 22,000 of this type were in effect.
The exercises provide similar sensory sensations. These contracts represent a definite improvement, but they are also a far cry from 2018’s figures, when 900,000 contracts were signed. “Climate regarding training in Spain uncertain and not being seen as training” They criticize from ManporweGroup.
After conducting the review, labor market experts also draw their own conclusions and feelings. Training is seen as an important pillar, as precarious academic training creates youth unemployment and further exacerbates this structural problem, explains Pittart. They are committed to vocational training (FP) and dual contracting.
Another analysis – albeit simplistic – that has emerged from the labor market as a whole in recent years is that young people have more wage protection due to the gradual increase in wages. Interprofessional Minimum Wage (SMI)Which benefits those profiles in the service sector or people with low level of education.
“In Spain, the minimum wage in 2022 was €1,167, an increase of 65% since 2016. In the first weeks of 2023, a new increase was approved, now 8%, which once again accelerated the growth of this variable is” Adeko explained. The indicated area, well, services. In this sector, wages rose to a greater extent than in the rest.
