Spain counts 421,000 regularised foreign workers

Spain counts 421,000 regularised foreign workers on its social security rolls as of 30 September, according to the government. In Madrid on Friday, 2 October, the Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) union says the exceptional regularisation process is bringing some jobs that already existed into the formal system, with rights and social protection. But the process also shows up in unemployment figures: 56,476 people registered as unemployed in September had taken part in it, the union says.

CCOO says regularisation accounts for an important part of the growth in social security enrolment. It points to domestic work, farming, construction and hospitality — sectors with large numbers of foreign workers. The union says jobs are still being created despite the rise in registered unemployment.

CCOO also points to longer-term contracts. It says nine in ten net new salaried jobs compared with a year earlier are permanent. Of the nearly 1.6 million contracts registered in September, 707,000 were permanent — 44.2% of the total. Permanent contracts rose 6.5% year on year.

The union now wants better wages and measures to make housing easier to access and reduce living costs for working families.

Topics: Jobs & labour · Agriculture · Economy

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com