Olive Operations Labour Market Update Spain
The labour world is changing and now that the new year is underway, we can say that the labour market scenario is quite encouraging for Spain. According to the labour market guide by Hays Spain, 66% of the companies that were surveyed forecast to continue growing in 2022. The most confident sectors are IT and Pharma, and start-ups are expected to grow even more than large companies.
Another positive aspect is the recovery that is also expected for this year, as 71% of the companies surveyed plan to increase the number of new hires this year, and also to increase the salaries of their employees. According to this study, the companies with the highest hiring intentions are located in the regions of Levante: Valencia, Murcia, Catalonia and Andalusia, and in Madrid.
In this sense, another study on Salaries and Trends 2022 by Michael Page also shows us a 10% reactivation of the labour market in terms of hiring compared to the pre-pandemic values, in the healthcare, technology, sustainability and digital transformation sectors. It also hints that this trend will become stronger, meaning a positive impact on the evolution of salaries, especially in those areas where there is a shortage of talent, such as in the IT, digital and sustainability sectors.
When it comes to the salary situation, it is believed there will be an increase, mainly in the positions of highest demand like sales, engineers and IT, and in the sectors with the greatest job offer like health, IT/digital and pharma. These increases would represent up to 5% or perhaps more, according to the study provided by Hays. In this way, salaries would roughly keep pace with inflation, which currently hovers around 6.5% in Spain. The Spanish Basque Country, Valencia, Murcia and Catalonia are the regions where companies most expect salaries to rise this year.
Which elements are most important for employees considering a career change?
We must highlight also the value of work-life balance as an essential element when it comes to retaining talent, as agreed by both companies and professionals. The option of teleworking and the hybrid model is already a reality and something that has come to stay. Employers looking for a 100% on-site model will find it increasingly difficult to attract talent. It was clearly the pandemic that changed the paradigm in terms of flexibility and brought to light the importance of work-life balance.
Companies answered by providing professionals with the necessary tools to be able to telework. They should also be encouraged to work by objectives and control based on results and not so much control of working hours and time.
In addition to flexibility, which is highly valued by candidates, most professionals agree that their main motivation is salary, how much they get paid for their jobs, followed by professional recognition, promotion, etc.
Is the war for talent back?
The number of companies struggling to find the right staff is back to pre-pandemic levels. Companies mainly cite these complicating factors: the skills gap, the war for talent and the high salaries demanded by some professionals.
In 2022, the success of companies will depend on their adaptation to the new rules of an increasingly demanding labour market.
Putting things in perspective, when we compare the situation on the Spanish labour market to that in Belgium or the Netherlands, the Spanish war for talent is really just a bar fight. International companies and start-ups who’ve been implementing the new way of working way ahead of others, find it much easier to hire affordable qualitative staff here in Spain.
Olive Operations advises international companies in Spain. We can help you set up the right hiring strategy, put together your remuneration packages or find the right partners to work with.
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