Although more 85% of productive fabric the province continues to form micro SMEs With less than 10 workers, things are starting to change in Alicante. Strong to get better The economy’s experiences after the end of the epidemic increase in business size middle and carried The number of large companies in the region reached the highest level in history. The good news, according to experts, is if you take into account that these large companies they invest more in innovation and also those who usually have better working conditions.
According to the latest data on companies registered with Social Security, compiled by the Valencian Institute of Statistics, the state at the end of the third quarter 168 companies with more than 250 employeeswell 14 more than a year ago and the highest in the series offered by this organization dates back to 2012, when there were 102 companies that broke this barrier.
In fact, if one analyzes the development of the labor market in the same period, it is precisely such companies that monopolize the majority of job creation in Alicante. 10,880 of 23,553 new jobs Something produced in this region in the last twelve months.
So right now they are already 143,347 residents of Alicante Yes, people who work in a large organization, which includes public employees in the health and education sectors, but not other officials. So the big company is already concentrating 26.4% of all occupancy in the regionIt’s one point higher than last year and almost five points higher than a decade ago.
“This is a very positive fact, because it means that the economy of Alicante is in good shape and, above all, There are competitive companies that can grow and gain ground“says professor emeritus of Fundamentals of Economic Analysis and former rector of the University of Alicante, Ignacio Jimenez RanedaThis suggests that labor reform may have also affected this growth by forcing the regularization of previously insecure workers.
Pandemic
In the same vein, Ineca’s research director, Francisco Llopisdon’t forget this The pandemic affected SMEs moreLarge companies, on the other hand, were able to resist better and therefore take better advantage of the recovery. Also, as he puts it, “Market forces companies to gain muscleBecause it facilitates innovation, increases competitiveness and also represents an advantage in terms of internationalization and therefore increasing business,” says also a university professor.
CEV President Alicante said, Joaquin PerezThink about this”Traditional sectors made efforts to invest This has created new business opportunities.” He also assures that companies are “increasingly less shy about collaborating and creating synergies among themselves,” which increases their growth prospects.
In any case, Pérez noted that despite the improvement, the average size of Alicante firms still below average and requests greater support from the Administration (especially the reduction of bureaucratic hurdles) to facilitate the expansion of the business.
In this context, the Valencian Institute of Statistics’ own data clearly reveals this difference. 168 major companies owned by Alicante, Half of them are in the neighboring state of ValenciaIt closed last quarter with 298 companies with more than 250 employees. Moreover, such large companies employ 32.5% of the salaried population; that’s six points more than in Alicante. Similarly, the average size of companies of all sizes in Valencia reaches 11.1 workers, while in Alicante the number is 8.8.
Almost a thousand more companies than a year ago
In total, the province of Alicante closed last quarter with 61,272 companies registered with Social Security; This means there is at least one hired worker. There were 975 more than a year ago; This reflects that the productive structure of the province is currently making good progress. By sector, the largest increase is in the hospitality sector, which has 258 more companies than in September 2022. The construction industry adds 137 companies employing more workers; Construction and gardening services companies account for more than 72 companies. Of the total companies, 52,195 are micro SMEs (1 to 9 employees), another 7,812 are SMEs (10 to 49 employees), 1,091 are medium-sized companies (50 to 249) and 168 are large companies.