Labor reform cuts temporary employment in tourism to full employment record

Companies in different branches of tourism activity closed the month of July with 2 billion 702 million SGK memberships, making it the best month in the industry’s history and reaching a record 2 billion 626 million employees. August 2019.

Despite concerns that inflation, economic and geopolitical uncertainties will hit consumption after the summer boom, tourist demand did not decrease and employment in the tourism sector gained momentum. Tourism sector closed in December With nearly 2.46 million Social Security members, it’s also the best data in the entire historical series for that month, which adds up to 19 consecutive months of employment growth.

At least the storms

Tourism companies not only create employment, but also greater stability of these new jobs in an industry historically marked by temporary hiring. Further stabilization, discontinuous adjustments resulting from the implementation of the government-approved labor reform, which came into force last March, which reduced companies’ ability to sign temporary contracts and resulted in a rapid increase in indefinite and long-term contracts.

The sector closed December with only 8.8% temporary contracts, compared to the normal level of over 30%. sustained before labor reform and A record of 37.8% was reached in August 2021, The last summer high season before the norm change undertaken by the government.

“For the first time, the tourism sector offers temporary contracts below the rest of the Spanish economy,” he emphasizes. perfect, lobby that brings together the thirty largest companies in the industry (among them, Meliá, NH, Iberia, Globalia, Riu or Amadeus). The usual change in trend took place last May and tourism began to have a lower seasonality than the Spanish economy as a whole. In December, the average for the rest of the economic sectors provided temporary employment of 15.5% compared to 8.8% for tourism.

“Tourism companies have reduced their temporary contract levels to historic lows as they return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022. This is due to the massive implementation of labor reform. widespread adoption of the discontinuous permanent contract”underlines cooperation. At the end of December, 247,763 people were hired using the deductible fixed rental method.Compared to 120,000 in December 2019 and 126,000 in February 2022, the last month before labor reform takes effect.

fight for staff

Large companies in the industry are warning of the impact of the increase in costs they incur, including wage costs. Exceltur warns price increase It also caused an 8.9% increase in wage costs. For companies in the industry as the singular effect of increases in CPI-linked collective bargaining agreements.

The industry must face the challenge of “balancing a return to normal employment with inflationary tensions and worker demands for new wage increases, which is hard to assume in a context where tourism companies and the outcome of the pandemic are still accumulating heavy losses that you finance with a high income indebtedness,” emphasizes Exceltur in its latest quarterly report. .

While the tourism sector wants to stop price increases, Companies warn of the difficulties of finding trained staff and the open struggle between companies to attract employees. The cessation of operations over the past two years due to the pandemic has meant that some companies have been unable to bring back some of their lost personnel and have shifted to other economic sectors. Big companies solve problems to attract or retain workers for wages and attribute this to housing prices in tourist areas and other factors such as seasonality.

State-owned hospitality group Paradores is breaking away from the dominant discourse in the industry. “To retain talent, you must reward talent. Talent must be dignified,” said Pedro Saura, the company’s chairman, former socialist Minister of Foreign Affairs, who attributed the industry’s problems in finding workers or retaining them after the pandemic to the salary level. “The future of tourism does not depend on reducing labor costs, but on creating more value,” he said at a meeting with members of the press at Fitur.