Lack of job security for young people in Spain

Source: Sánchez, E., ‘Jóvenes: La nueva precariedad laboral’ (Young people: The new precariousness in work), report by CCOO, Madrid, 2004

Job insecurity

Regarding those young people who have entered the labour market, it was found that almost two thirds of young people aged below 30 in Spain (63.8%) work in services, with this proportion exceeding 80% among women. Concerning their working conditions, young workers report the highest levels of precariousness, with a high proportion of temporary employment. They also receive less training in their work compared with workers in general, and have limited career expectations and low salaries. The report emphasises that the combination of all of these elements, and not only temporary employment, leads to a precarious employment profile.

Temporary employment

Building on some of these factors, the report highlights that 62% of people in temporary employment in Spain are aged below 35 (2.5 million people). This means that 38.1% of young workers are on a temporary contract, compared with 30.7% of the total working population. The authors of the report point out that temporary employment is now a long-term feature of work, whereas the traditional pattern used to be that people started out on temporary contracts before advancing to a more stable situation. By sector, temporary employment particularly affects young people in banking (86% of temporary employees are below 35), retail (81%), and personal services (79%).

Qualification and salary levels

The study also focuses on young people’s qualifications, finding that one third of those aged between 25 and 29, with university degrees, report that their training exceeds the level required for the job. As far as salary is concerned, young Spanish workers (aged below 35) earned, on average, €12,500 in 2003, which represents 64% of the average industrial wage in Spain. Young male workers receive as much as €4,000 a year more than their female counterparts.

Recommendations

These issues result in low satisfaction levels among young workers. Earning a low salary is the main cause of dissatisfaction (and the main reason that young workers change jobs), followed by unsocial working hours, demanding physical work, and instability in the labour market.

Bearing these factors in mind, the CCOO report suggests the adoption of the following measures:

• Legal and actual recognition of the ‘equal treatment’ principle should be transposed into the Spanish legal framework, through the respective EU directives. This is key to avoiding discrimination in increasingly diverse workplaces, as more women, young people, immigrants and disabled people enter the labour market.

• Similarly, collective agreements with direct or indirect discriminatory provisions should be discontinued.

• In-depth studies should be carried out to reach an accurate understanding of the problem, which will, in turn, enable the definition and adoption of effective measures.

• Salary levels should be monitored to ensure equality; the adoption of variable or individualised pay systems (target or productivity based) should be assessed, as well as the inclusion of social benefits, such as housing benefits, which are especially relevant for young people.

• Irregular working hours should be reduced in order to better reconcile work and family life. Also, the same working schedules should be adopted for everyone, irrespective of their gender, age, type of contract, etc.

• Where there is no official labour relationship, e.g. for interns, researchers, trainees, freelance workers, voluntary workers, etc, the working situation should be monitored.

• There should be a campaign against hiring fraud, identifying the sectors and companies with the highest rates of temporary employment.