Friday, March 29

Employment grew by 383,000 workers and permanent work skyrocketed in the second quarter after the labor reform

Employment continues to grow strongly and with a great boost from permanent employment after the deployment of the labor reform. The second quarter of the year left 383,300 more jobs, reaching almost 20.5 million people working, a maximum since 2008, according to data from the Active Population Survey (EPA) published today by the INE. For its part, unemployment fell by 255,300 people, reaching a total of 2,919,400 unemployed, finally below the barrier of three million unemployed people and also beating the minimum of 2008, in the early stages of the past financial crisis.

In this quarter, the strong push of permanent employment stands out, with 616,700 more wage earners with this type of contract once the restrictions on the temporary nature of the new labor reform contracts have come into force. Employees with temporary contracts instead fell by 241,300 people, the third largest drop in temporary work in the historical series with a significant difference. In the two previous drops (2020 and 2009) the context was job destruction. Now the workers are increasing and part of the employment is becoming indefinite.

The final image in the form of the temporary rate, that is, how many temporary workers there are among the total number of employees, the figure plummets to 22.3%, the second lowest in the historical series, only behind the year 2013 (21.9 %) when the enormous destruction of employment in the past crisis was primed by storms.




The second quarter of the year is usually favorable for the labor market thanks to the good weather, Easter (when it falls in April, as in this case) and the start of the tourist season, among other factors, which are reflected in an increase in workers and falling unemployment.

This year, April put several important challenges ahead. The first, the entry into force of a key part of the labor reform: the new contracts, which limit the possibility of temporary hiring and try to extend indefinite employment. Second, the end of the ERTE and the extraordinary ‘unemployment’ aid to the self-employed, after two years of public support for the pandemic. And, last but not least, the effects of the war in Ukraine after the Russian invasion, which has triggered the inflationary drift.



www.eldiario.es