Temporary rate in the public sector reached 32.5% in the first quarter of 2022, the highest level recorded in the twenty-year series and well above the private sector rate of 22.1% in the same period, a gap of more than ten percentage points.
The interim period for public administrations grew from 30.4% in the first quarter of 2021 to 31% by the end of that year, and then to 32.5% in the first quarter of 2022, corresponding to about 1.13 million public employees on temporary contracts, according to the latest Active Population Survey data.
Conversely, the private sector saw a decline in temporary employment, dropping nearly two percentage points from 23.9% at the end of 2021 to 22.1% in the first quarter, a change attributed to the labor reform that took effect on December 31 and limited temporary hiring substantially.
According to Miriam Pinillos, the Public Policy secretary for FSC-CCOO, the rise in temporary contracts within the Administration is linked to a delay in announcing public employment offers and in implementing job-stabilization measures, as reported to EFE.
CSIF data indicate notable variation by level of government: roughly 10% temporality in the General State Administration, over 30% in Autonomous Communities, and above 25% in Local Government, highlighting uneven outcomes across the public sector.
Gender and age differences
Within the public sector, transience shows a pronounced gender gap, with 24% of men and 38.5% of women employed on temporary contracts. CSIF attributes this to sectors like education and health, which employ a larger share of women and bear the brunt of temporality.
Among workers under 25, temporality reaches 86.7%, increasing to 92.6% for women in that age group. CSIF notes that the structure of essential welfare sectors such as health and education contributes to this pattern, where access to key roles often relies on fixed-term arrangements.
CCOO adds that for years there has been a structural demand that public employment offers have not met, with substitution rates suppressed and workloads rising.
Stabilization framework
The issue of temporality in public employment has persisted for decades, with the rate not exceeding 30% until the first quarter of the previous year.
Historically, temporary employment decreased only by about 20% in the six quarters between 2012 and 2014. In 2017, Cristóbal Montoro, then Minister of Finance and Public Administration, announced an agreement with unions to curb temporary hires to around 8%.
The current government has also pledged to reduce temporary employment in the public sector through emergency measures approved in July 2021, a bill processed in Parliament, and an agreement between the Executive and unions to reach 8% by 2025. The accompanying text sets out that roughly 300,000 temporary positions deemed structural should be filled by December 31, 2024, with all processes approved and published by June 1, 2022 and completed by December 31, 2022.
Under the new stabilization process, positions that have been held on a temporary basis for three years as of December 31, 2020, with relevant experience, are subject to the competition‑based assessment. Exceptions apply to quotas filled temporarily and uninterruptedly before January 1, 2016, which will be addressed through the competition system alone, not through the usual temporary route.
The reform also ensures that vacancies are filled only by permanent staff where possible; when this is not feasible, temporary hires may be used for a maximum of three years. Those who do not participate in the selection process will not receive financial compensation, and failure to pass may result in dismissal with a compensation of 20 days per year of service.
To prevent a recurrence of the same issue, the law specifies that vacancies should be filled primarily by career officials and, when necessary, by temporary staff for a limited term of up to three years.
Union perspectives: commitment and resolve
Even with the law ratified, Pinillos of CCOO notes that many governments have not yet complied with the stabilization process, yet remains optimistic that once adaptations are made, the goal of ending permanent temporality could be achieved by the end of the 2024 timeline.
Isabel Araque, secretary of UGT Public Service Unity Action, stresses that the decisive factor will be the political will to eliminate temporary arrangements once and for all as soon as the executive order is approved.
Public officials cited by EFE indicate that, although data are not yet available for all administrations, each level of government—state, regional, and local—must comply with the law and apply tests suited to their own structures and staffing scales, with many stabilization positions already filled.