The longer a person stays unemployed, the harder it becomes to rejoin the job market. This is a reality many administrations try to tackle with placement and training programs. Yet these efforts contend with a stubborn foe: the current fragile economic environment. Alicante has logged its highest levels of long-term unemployment since 2015, when the Great Recession left a lasting impact. Among the unemployed, 62,800 have not found work for more than two years, with 65% of them being women. Experts link these figures to the lingering effects of the pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine. Before the health crisis in 2019, the count of long-term unemployed with these characteristics stood at 42,500, and the increase to today exceeds 20,000.
According to statistics from the Public State Employment Service (SEPE), to find figures higher than current ones, one must look back to the years after the brick crisis. Although the crisis began in 2008, recovery took much longer. Many workers left the labor market, initially those tied to construction, many of whom still struggle to find work. Then many others from various sectors were affected, as if the real estate bubble burst and the economy shifted dramatically.
The difficulty of finding a job in these troubled times, especially for workers who had dedicated themselves to their craft and then had to start anew, gradually increased the number of people unemployed for more than 24 months. The peak occurred in 2013, when 69,800 people in Alicante were unemployed long-term. From then on, enrollments slowly declined, and by 2015 the scale stabilized around 63,400.
Turning point
That year marked the last time long-term unemployment exceeded current levels. The turning point—the moment when numbers started to rise again—coincided with the onset of the pandemic. In 2019, the nadir was 42,500 unemployed with these characteristics, but within a year it rose to 48,100 and then continued upward to reach 62,800 as the virus spread. Notably, 40,900 of those unemployed were women, illustrating gender disparities in the labor market.
The epidemic clearly influenced this trajectory, and the war in Ukraine added further instability to the economy even after the worst of the health crisis had passed.
Government approves plan to employ long-term unemployed
The challenge remains that the gradual recovery at the macro level has not yet benefited this group as the pandemic subsides. Yaissel Sánchez, general secretary of the UGT in l’Alacantí and Les Marines, describes the profiles of many of these workers. Many are around fifty years old or older. He notes that these are individuals who have not managed to return to the job market after Covid, mainly because companies prefer to hire younger workers who are better educated. Consequently, active relocation policies and expanded education are more essential than ever, since vocational education should not be reserved for the young.
Furthermore, the union leader stresses that companies play a key role, arguing that the talent and experience these workers have accumulated should not go to waste. There is still a lot they can contribute.
Labora promotes recruiting programs
The Generalitat promotes various programs to boost the hiring of long-term unemployed individuals. Rocío Briones, director general of Employment and Education at Labora, explains that the pandemic created fewer opportunities to re-enter the job market for many people. As a result, initiatives such as Avalem Experiencia are being implemented, along with public employment plans, personalized itineraries, training courses, and recruitment assistance.
Briones also highlights special attention to women through the Avalem Dones program and mentions a study being prepared to identify sectors where women remain underrepresented to help rectify the imbalance.