The person in charge of the world’s largest professional network in our country attended the Opendir congress in Alicante a few days ago, highlighting the opportunity where new technologies represent and calm the fears posed by artificial intelligence.
Have you counted how many people find a job through LinkedIn every day in Spain?
We do not use the data directly for Spain, but there are six contracts per minute worldwide.
Have networks and platforms replaced friends and acquaintances as the main means of finding a job?
Well, personal contacts are still a go-to for companies of a certain size, but it would no longer be possible or possible to be like that in medium and large companies. Without a doubt, technology and platforms are currently the dominant way of hiring management.
There is currently a great debate over whether it is a shortage of labor or what is missing is better working conditions to attract workers. which department are you in
In none. I believe that there is no shortage of manpower, but I believe that we have pending duties in raising that manpower. But, first of all, we don’t have a clear talent identification mechanism. We accept the traditional categories, reviews and professional trajectory, but fail to analyze and visualize professionals based on their abilities and skills. I think this is one of the keys to closing the famous paradox that we have the unemployment problem right now, and also the famous paradox that companies are saying – and that’s the reality, they just can’t find the talent they need.
What are Spanish workers weak in?
I think a culture of continuous learning beyond the degree is starting to take hold, but we’re not there yet. How we will continue to take steps that will at least keep ourselves up to date and, if possible, differentiate ourselves, have not been on our agenda from day to day.
What are the pending tasks of companies to attract or retain talent?
You must first recognize and define the profile you are looking for, then offer employees an attractive working environment: workforce flexibility, good conditions, stability, the company’s own value proposition, and of course, which one should you keep in mind? It is the image of the company.
Remote work, yes or no?
Remote work is a tool that has proven useful over the years for reasons we all know. Personally, I do not believe that working remotely is a definitive and decisive solution to achieve a more flexible and productive work environment. This is another tool. I also believe in the benefits of collaborative work, which is teamwork that typically takes place in shared physical environments. I think we should expand a bit more and understand what the concepts of labor flexibility are. We’re improving and that’s good. We work less hours, under better conditions and more efficiently than 10, 20, 50 years ago. And that’s good, it’s progress, and we shouldn’t oppose it. And technology helps us be more productive every day, but it’s true that we’re currently experimenting and seeing what works and what doesn’t. As a result, companies need to understand that employee well-being is important and employees need to understand that companies need productivity levels.
Does remote work present an opportunity for mid-sized cities, such as Alicante, that have so far been away from some of the leading industries?
no doubt. There the two forces converge. It is true that there are industries—and startups—that have understood for several years that it is not a problem to relocate their talents, quite the contrary. While a few years ago it was asked why the positions that might have been open in Paris or Amsterdam could not come to Madrid or Barcelona, now one more step has been taken: why Madrid or Barcelona when it could have been Vigo, Santander or Alicante. ? This is a very clear trend for companies. There is also a tendency to concentrate in city centers with good cultural and gastronomic opportunities… In short, it has a good quality of life. So medium-sized cities like Alicante will clearly be favored by the teleworking boom.
You’re talking about working less, will a four-day shift be implemented?
This is a tough talk, because there are many industries and many businesses where your productivity level is closely tied to uptime. If a production line produces a thousand shoes an hour, if you stop working for an hour, a thousand fewer shoes are produced. Not everything can be compared. Yes, it’s true that there are companies that test the four-day shift, and it works well for them. They see higher employee satisfaction and greater productivity. Will it be implemented all over the place overnight? Probably not, but I’m sure it will be a trend that will continue. Many years ago, the standard in many industries was six days, and today it’s five.
How will the development of artificial intelligence affect the job market?
I think there is one more element of innovation that will help us be more productive. And in this case, it’s something that looks very powerful and will mean significant changes in the way we work. As for the debate over whether it will eliminate employment, I think it’s a bit barren. You don’t have to look like that. This is another step in innovation as we have experienced many other innovations that can be a bit more abrupt and need a little more time to adapt. In the end, the availability of artificial intelligence is what will set professionals apart from the rest. Artificial intelligence will not replace all professions. Obviously, some will improve, such as when office automation was introduced and moved from typewriters to word processors. We cannot be resistant to change, what we need to do is figure out how to incorporate – or rather continue to do – the capabilities of artificial intelligence in our work.