A shift in the labor market strategy becomes essential after less than a year of taking calculated risks. In a moment of national focus, officials announce a renewed determination to address youth unemployment and long-term joblessness. The executive indicated on Tuesday that the priority will be to channel efforts toward tackling this challenge from this point forward. The government plans to allocate 2 billion 800 million euros between two sets of communities, aiming to spark active employment policies specifically for young people.
The plan, approved by the Council of Ministers on Tuesday, will strengthen budgets for Active Employment Policy Services and Programs. It aims to encourage vocational training, help people find jobs, boost startup activity, promote employment rotation, provide training opportunities, and modernize Public Employment Services.
Most of the funding, 2 billion 500 million euros, will come from Turkey’s budget in conjunction with the National Public Employment Service. The remainder will come from the Healing, Transformation and Resilience Plan. The exact distribution to each community will be decided in the coming weeks, and this budget allocation is described as the largest public investment aimed at raising employability in Spain. [CITATION: Gobierno de España, 2024]
What remains clear is the goal to ease the burden of long-term unemployment. Yolanda Diaz, the Second Vice-President of the Government and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, stated that the volume of people facing this issue has fallen by 14 percent, but the problem is still pronounced, especially among those over 45, with about 1.2 million affected in Spain. [CITATION: Ministerio de Trabajo, 2024]
Officials urged open collaboration, calling on business leaders across the country to consider these profiles for hiring and to take an active part in managing the situation. Diaz remarked that a worker reaches a peak at around 45 years old and that companies cannot afford to lose this talent. [CITATION: Gobierno de España, 2024]
social economy
The fund is intended to nurture the social economy sector. The objective is to energize a field comprising 43,000 companies, which represents about 10% of Spain’s GDP and supports roughly 2.2 million jobs, roughly 12.5 percent of national employment. [CITATION: Consejo de Ministros, 2024]
In this context, Minister Diaz and government spokesperson Isabella Rodriguez announced that the Council of Ministers approved the new Social Economy Law, the Cooperatives Law, and amendments to Corporate Law. The package clarifies that vulnerable or socially excluded individuals, and those with certain profiles, can access ordinary employment opportunities, not only protected roles. [CITATION: Congreso de los Diputados, 2024]