The market of work is resisting the first effects of the war in Ukraine, according to the progress of the Social Security affiliation data presented this Wednesday by Minister José Luís Escrivá. Spain, despite the inflationary escalation exacerbated by the war and the resulting logistical problems, continues to create jobs and at a rate similar to that of previous years. “It is not an obstacle for the labor market to function well and with increasingly indefinite contracts and with less precariousness”, Escrivá highlighted. That is why the Government rules out “for now” activating aid for sectoral furloughs beyond those travel agency.
“You don’t see anything,” insisted the head of Social Security, referring to the aftermath of the war, despite the fact that he has subsequently recognized the high volatility of the scenario and that the Executive is monitoring the data in case they are seen forced to activate new measures. The statistics do show a first impact of the war in the sector of the automotive, where there has been a rise in furloughs due to productive causes that affect some 3,000 people. However, Escrivá has highlighted that the impact, for the time being, is being less than that initially caused by the lack of semiconductors last year.
During the first 14 days of March, enrollment has grown at a rate similar to the 2017-2019 period, before the impact of covid, and Social Security registers 81,762 more employed than the last day of February. To this figure it will be possible to subtract the effect of the end of the month, when many companies settle temporary contracts, and the seasonal component. The result advanced by Escrivá will be a net job creation of 30,520 employed more than the previous month. Something that, given the “extraordinarily complex international environment, clearly exceeds expectations”, the minister highlighted.
Higher quality employment
The data presented by Escrivá confirm that the increase in permanent contracts registered since the entry into force of the new labor reform continues. The transition from the temporary contract to the discontinuous fixed -one of the ways promoted by the reform- explains part of this gain in permanent contracts. So far this year there are 60,000 discontinuous fixed affiliates more than in the 2017-2019 cycle.
Another fact that explains the reduction in the signing of temporary contracts is that those that are signed last longer. 48.5% of the temporary contracts signed this year are still in force, when in the same period of 2019 this percentage did not exceed 11%. And if before the reform the average duration of an eventual was 8.6 days, now the average is 10.5 days.