Increase in geographical mobility of Spanish labour market
Objavljeno: 20 October 2005
The National Institute of Employment (INEM - in Spanish) [1], within its Employment Observatory Service (in Spanish) [2], has recently published a report on the geographical mobility of the Spanish labour market in 2004 (410Kb pdf; in Spanish) [3]. This report finds that, although the Spanish labour market is characterised by a low degree of geographical mobility - especially in comparison with other countries - there has been a steady increase in the geographical mobility of workers in Spain in recent years. Geographical mobility is measured in terms of employment contracts that necessitate, from the outset, the movement of workers to other Spanish provinces or regions (autonomous communities) than where they are living. The report provides a profile of these ‘mobile’ workers in terms of considerations such as sex, age, education level, type of occupation, or nationality of the workers (Spanish/non-Spanish).[1] http://www.inem.es/[2] http://www.inem.es/ciudadano/p_observatorio.html[3] http://www2.inem.es/Observatorio/Observatorio/Publicaciones/avance_movilidad_2004.pdf
Geographical mobility due to labour reasons is an increasing phenomenon in the Spanish labour market. Men, young people, university graduates and highly qualified professionals are more likely to move, as are immigrant workers.
The National Institute of Employment (INEM - in Spanish), within its Employment Observatory Service (in Spanish), has recently published a report on the geographical mobility of the Spanish labour market in 2004 (410Kb pdf; in Spanish). This report finds that, although the Spanish labour market is characterised by a low degree of geographical mobility - especially in comparison with other countries - there has been a steady increase in the geographical mobility of workers in Spain in recent years. Geographical mobility is measured in terms of employment contracts that necessitate, from the outset, the movement of workers to other Spanish provinces or regions (autonomous communities) than where they are living. The report provides a profile of these ‘mobile’ workers in terms of considerations such as sex, age, education level, type of occupation, or nationality of the workers (Spanish/non-Spanish).
The report reveals that, in 2004, around 1.85 million employment contracts required the movement of workers to another province within Spain, which represents 11.7% of all Spanish employment contracts signed in that year (Table 1). A further 1.17 million of employment contracts signed in 2004 (or 7.4% of the total) requested the movement of workers to another Spanish region (autonomous community). A comparison with the previous year shows that both ratios have experienced an increase, confirming a trend already noticeable (Figure 1).
| 2003 | 2004 | |
|---|---|---|
| Employment contracts that meant the movement of workers to another Spanish province (1) | 1,610,948 | 1,852,099 |
| Employment contracts that meant the movement of workers to another Spanish region (autonomous community) (2) | 996,102 | 1,171,446 |
| Total employment contracts signed in Spain (3) | 13,837,379 | 15,850,708 |
| (1)/(3) | 11.6% | 11.7% |
| (2)/(3) | 7.2% | 7.4% |
Source: INEM, 2004
Further findings in the report include the following:
The Spanish regions receiving the largest number of workers from other regions are Madrid and Catalonia, taking in around 37.7% of all the movements registered in Spain in 2004. By way of contrast, Andalusia is the main place of origin of workers hired in other Spanish regions. In this sense, the Spanish regions can be divided into two main groups: those that, on average, receive more workers than they send away (these regions include the Mediterranean areas, the Ebro Valley Axis, the Basque Country, both islands and Madrid); and those where the opposite situation can be detected (southern, centre and north-western regions).
Geographical mobility is more frequent among men than women. Thus, around 9.3% of all employment contracts signed by women imply inter-provincial mobility, whereas this percentage increases to 13.6% in the case of men.
As far as age considerations are concerned, the available data show that young people between 25 and 34 years old are the most geographically mobile group: 13.4% of all contracts signed by this group imply inter-provincial mobility. Conversely, the lowest mobility ratio can be found among workers aged 55 years or more (8.8%). Interestingly, combining gender and age considerations reveals that the younger and the oldest age groups show the least gender differences, whereas these differences are particularly high among the middle age groups.
| Age groups | Men | Women | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16-24 years | 10.8 | 10.9 | 10.9 |
| 25-34 years | 15.6 | 10.6 | 13.4 |
| 35-44 years | 14.7 | 7.0 | 11.2 |
| 45-54 years | 13.3 | 5.9 | 10.0 |
| 55 years | 10.4 | 5.8 | 8.8 |
| Total | 13.6 | 9.3 | 11.7 |
Source: INEM, 2004
Education and occupation
The report also finds that:
The economic sectors with the highest number of contracts implying inter-provincial geographical mobility are: construction, other enterprise activities (NACE 74), agrarian activities, hotels and restaurants, and retail trade. In contrast, manufacturing activities involve relatively low mobility.
With regard to workers’ educational level, it is interesting to note that, in relative terms, university holders are the most mobile educational group: up to 15.3% of all contracts signed by this group require working in another province.
Concerning occupational groups, the largest proportion of workers who have moved to another province to work belong in the non-qualified workers group, accounting for 29.7% of all inter-provincial mobile contracts. However, and in relative terms, the occupational groups with the highest qualification levels (i.e. managers of private enterprises/public administration, and technicians and support professionals) have the highest geographical mobility ratios, with percentages in both cases above 15%.
Non-Spanish workers are more willing to move to another province for working purposes than their Spanish counterparts. Thus, their mobility rate is more than double that for Spanish workers. By nationality, nearly half of all the migration is carried out by Moroccan, Ecuadorian, Colombian, Portuguese and Romanian workers, and they are particularly present in the economic sectors of agrarian activities, construction, and hotels and restaurants.
Eurofound priporoča, da to publikacijo navedete na naslednji način.
Eurofound (2005), Increase in geographical mobility of Spanish labour market, article.
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