Unstable employment situation of young people

Protests by French workers and students have fuelled criticisms by trade unions and experts in Spain, who claim that the employment situation of young Spanish workers is no better than that proposed by the French ‘first job contract’.

Precarious employment

Earlier this year, the trade unions argued that one of the key problems facing the Spanish economy is precarious employment, particularly among young people. In late 2005, up to 58% of Spain’s unemployed population consisted of people under the age of 35 years. Those worst affected are people aged 25–29 years, 18% of whom are unemployed (the average unemployment rate in Spain is currently 8.5%). Women are more adversely affected than men.

Prevalence of temporary contracts

The employment situation of young people with jobs is not very favourable either. Two out of three people under the age of 25 years are on temporary work contracts, often short-term contracts. As a result, the level of job rotation is high and often involves workers being offered successive temporary contracts in the same company.

Training and work placement contracts, which could allow young people to gain sufficient experience and qualifications, are rarely used. This may be due to the fact that a large proportion of the jobs available are low-skilled positions. Figures for 2005 show that over 10.6 million work contracts involved people aged under 35 years, and that only 10% of these contracts were permanent or were subsequently transformed into permanent contracts.

Of the contracts registered by temporary work agencies at the National Institute of Employment (Instituto Nacional de Empleo, INEM), over 70% of them involved workers under 30 years of age; almost half of the contracts had a duration of one month or less, and 25% had a duration of between one day (perhaps even a few hours) and five days.

However, the overall figure for all types of work contracts recently exceeded 12 million per year. This relatively high figure indicates that the jobs may be more stable than is suggested by the type of contract issued by employers, which implies that companies are infringing the law and creating a situation of precarious employment through the high employee turnover. For example, many workers could be given one single fixed-term contract, instead of having a series of different temporary contracts.

Infringement of the regulations increases segregation in the labour market by keeping the number of permanent jobs down in the lower-skilled segments. Furthermore, as workers on temporary contracts are often forced to move from one company or one sector to another, the short duration of contracts prevents them from obtaining the benefits of ongoing job experience.

Commentary

Evidence shows that this situation can even be found to some extent in the public sector, and many labour market experts consider it to be one of the reasons for the low productivity level in the Spanish economy. Moreover, it also explains other trends, for example, the delay in young people leaving home and the difficulties they face in buying their own home and in achieving professional stability. Such a situation seems unacceptable in a society that claims to be modern, yet which does not facilitate workers, particularly younger workers, in making plans regarding their work or suitable training for their future careers.

The analysis of the work status of the 35–39 and 40–44 year age groups clearly shows that the outlook for the future socioeconomic situation in Spain is a cause for concern. In the last two years, temporary employment has risen from 24.5% to 26.6% in the first of these age categories and from 20.5% to 21.3% in the latter age group. It has been predicted that work precariousness and insecurity will continue to be a reality for a large percentage of Spanish people as they grow older, resulting in an increase in labour market segregation and causing serious problems for social cohesion in future years.

Fausto Miguélez Lobo, QUIT-UAB