Spain Jobs Surge in Tourism Industry: In the period between July and September (July – September 2023), Spain witnessed a surge in employment, marking a new high in Spain jobs numbers, largely propelled by a revitalized tourism sector. It boosted Spain Job Market and is indeed a good news for workers or labors, who are looking to work in Spain or building their career in Spain.
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Introduction to Spain Jobs Market
Data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) revealed that despite a slight uptick in the unemployment rate. Spain saw an increase in employed individuals, reaching a record 21.27 million jobs in October 2023.
During this quarter, Spain added a net total of 209,100 jobs, as reported by INE.
While the Spain unemployment rate edged up to 11.84% from the previous quarter’s 11.60% (April – June 2023), the positive aspect is that it remained notably lower than the 12.67% rate in the third quarter of 2022 (July – September 2023).
Unemployed people as of October 2023 in Spain, is now currently stands at 2.86 million people.
Spain Jobs Current Employment Rate vs Pre Pandemic
A significant contributor to Spain’s employment landscape is its booming tourism sector, constituting approximately 13.4% of the total workforce. Due to this rise in Spain tourism sector, the Spain overall economy also demonstrated growth, expanding by 3.7% in the same period last year (2022).
Lets try to compare these figures to September 2019, pre-pandemic time, currently there is a 9.7% increase in Spanish tourism employment, which indicates a positive post-pandemic recovery.
The Spanish tourism surge began in the second quarter of the year (2023), with a 10% rise in tourists visiting during the first nine months of 2023 compared to the same period last year, 2022.
Héctor Gómez, the acting Minister of Industry, Trade, and Tourism, attributed the sector’s excellent performance to the increase in quality and specialized tourism jobs. The workforce professionalism, aligned with industry demands, played a pivotal role in this success and rise in more job offers in Spain in tourism sector.
Although there was a minor uptick in the jobless rate in Spain, it still remains at its lowest level since the global financial crisis over a decade ago. Spanish tourism sector has always been critical to Spain economy. True to its reputation, it has been contributing to the increased job openings in Spain as more tourists are visiting to the Spain Mediterranean beaches and lively cities after the Covid 19 pandemic.
Analysts, including ING economist Wouter Thierie, predict a potential increase in “Unemployment in Spain” but rule out a sharp and prolonged rise. The presence of a growing labor population, the prevalence of permanent contracts and more job creations following recent labor market reforms in the Spain contribute to this optimistic outlook.
But if the reform plans doesn’t execute well, there are chances that “Spain Unemployment Rate”, might return to above 12% next year.
Interesting fact regarding the Spain Jobs rise in tourism sector is that, around 70% of the jobs created in the third quarter were filled by foreigners or international workers.
The service sector, driven by a robust summer season, led the way in more Spain jobs opportunities and career in Spain, bringing Spain tourism industry back to pre-pandemic levels.
Spain Jobs: Which Region has more Jobs?
When we look at which region or which tourism categories more jobs are creating. It was found out that – In September 2023, there was a notable rise in Spain jobs and employment across hotels, catering, and travel agencies/tour operators in all regions.
Image Courtesy – Unsplash
To examine it carefully after studying year-on-year growth, the Balearic Islands exhibited a substantial increase of 8.5%, closely followed by La Rioja at 7.9% in offering more jobs. Other regions that experienced noteworthy relative increases include Andalusia (7.2%), Galicia (7.2%), and the Canary Islands (7.1%).
Examining absolute figures, the most significant employment upswings were observed in Andalusia, boasting an impressive addition of 22,625 jobs. Catalonia followed closely with 19,071 more workers, while the Community of Madrid witnessed a substantial increase of 15,368 workers.
Additionally, the Balearic Islands reported a rise of 13,086 job offers in Spain, with notable increases also seen in the Community of Valencia (12,797 +) and the Canary Islands (10,851, more recruited workers).
Conclusion: Spain Jobs surge in areas
We can say that in the third quarter (July – September), this year 2023, Spain achieved two significant milestones, surpassing 24 million active individuals and exceeding 21.2 million employed people.
In September 2023, there was a substantial increase in absolute terms, with 175,541 new Spain jobs compared to the same month in the previous year. This growth had a widespread impact across all sectors of tourism activity and various branches within the sector.
Specifically, within hotels and catering, the surge amounted to 112,863 new job seekers, with 36,088 in accommodation services and 76,775 in food and beverage services.
The segment of travel agencies and tour operators also experienced growth, reaching 6,244 new workers. Other areas of tourism activities saw a noteworthy increase of 56,434 workers.
In September 2023, the number of Spanish salaried employees in the tourism sector, constituting 82% of all contributing workers, saw a substantial uptick of 7.9% compared to the same month the previous year. Meanwhile, self-employment in tourism, representing 18% of the total contributing workforce, saw a moderate increase of 1.5%.
These records underscore the resilience and recovery of Spain job market amid the challenges posed by the global pandemic.
Extras: Vodafone Spain Jobs Layoffs
One another important development related to Spain Job Market is that, Vodafone Spain might go for job layoffs following the its poor financial results in the last quarter (July – September 2023) and its takeover by UK fund Zegona.
One of the main factors leading to layoffs in Vodafone Spain is its recent financial results. Results indicate a 1.8% decline in revenues during the last quarter (July – September, 2023), with personnel costs accounting for 7.1% of its total revenues.
Another Spain jobs layoffs factor is the acquisition of Vodafone Spain by the UK fund Zegona. After this acquistion concerns have been arising among trade unions regarding a potential significant wave of job cuts that could impact up to half of the company’s 4,000 employees.
Zegona aims to replicate the successful model of MásMóvil, a company with just around 2,000 employees that has demonstrated robust financial performance. This strategy also draws inspiration from the success of Euskaltel.
In an effort to streamline operations and reduce costs, Vodafone Spain plans to close the majority of its retail outlets, seeking efficiency in capturing new customers. The company also intends to renegotiate contracts with TV content providers and network agreements with other operators. Leveraging its low-cost brand, Lowi, Vodafone Spain aims to expand its pay TV subscriber base and lower the per-customer cost of TV content.
As part of its cost-cutting measures, the company will also trim technological expenses, which currently amount to €102 million annually. These strategic initiatives are geared towards optimizing operational efficiency and adapting to the evolving market landscape.
