70% of Madrid gym members under 35 study for public sector jobs

70% of gym members under 35 in Madrid study for public sector jobs

How many of your acquaintances under 35 are preparing for a civil service exam? At a Madrid gym, the count resembles a census: 70% of members in that age bracket study for the fire service or police, according to one regular client. The only exception mentioned is a woman preparing for the MIR. The rest, he says, aim for roles whose salaries he directly calls perversos for a capital like Madrid.

What percentage of young people in Spain are studying for civil service exams?

There is no official statistic backing that 70%, and it is worth stating before drawing conclusions. What exists is a pattern repeated in very different settings: a neighborhood gym, a company with interns, even one’s own family. Some argue the real figure is even higher, to the point that it is rare to find someone who does not study for a civil service exam. Others describe a form of studying almost at random, applying to any call to escape private employment. The most extreme case reported is an administration hiring interim workers from other provinces — even from Andalusia — for contracts lasting just a few weeks.

How many public sector employees are there in Spain compared to the private sector?

Here the data contradict each other, and the contradiction is interesting. Some calculations speak of three million public sector employees against 16 million in the private sector, a proportion that does not initially seem unbalanced. Others claim the opposite: that there are already more Spaniards with public payrolls than private ones, with 16 million monthly paychecks paid by the State. Remuneration figures trinc the same direction: the average salary in the public sector is 38% higher than in the private sector in some calculations and 50% in others. And a compositional point often overlooked: only 18% of the 525,000 civil servants assigned to ministries have a university degree.

Regarding sustainability, the recurring argument is public debt, which reaches one and a half billion euros after adding 75.267 million in 2022. The comparison with Argentina appears several times in the conversation.

How much does a national police officer or a security guard earn?

The comparison is made at the payroll level. A national police officer earns, in the most repeated scenario, around 2,000 euros net; the 2,500 are dismissed outright. On the other side, private security has started to move: in the Madrid metro, salaries have risen by 150 euros, and there is a welcome bonus of 850 euros just for signing the contract, because they cannot find staff. For qualified employment in the capital, the diagnosis is harsh: some offers hover around 22,000 euros annually. In the administration, however, engineering posts are cited above 3,000 euros per month, a ceiling that, it is argued, is reached in the private sector at 50 years or never.

The fiscal backdrop is painted by a simple calculation: someone who earned 1,100 euros in 2003, when that was being a “mileurista,” now earns around 1,200. Twenty years to raise 100 euros.

The personal cost of studying for a civil service exam: four years and an ulcer

It is not all figures. One of the experiences reported is that of someone who prepared for a Group A civil service exam for four years, ended up with a stomach ulcer and immense frustration, left around age 30, married, had two children, and now runs a small business. The toll is measured mainly in time: the best years are burned, and in the case of women, it coincides with the age when motherhood is considered, in exchange for a job that does not compensate in money what was sacrificed.

Why the private sector does not stop the brain drain

Here appears the least discussed argument: it is not just the salary, it is job security. One view holds that, with family support and no urgency for income, what tips the balance is having a secure position. Another takes it further, describing the private sector as a toxic work environment where turnover and pressure make a long-term career unsustainable. In contrast, some know computer and telecommunications graduates who reject public posts even though they are abundant now. And a detail that breaks the generational narrative: a plumbing small and medium-sized enterprise has stopped seeking young people and seeks interested individuals, paying well; additionally, some offers have shown a minimum age of 40 years.

If the gym’s count holds, the best-educated generation in history is preparing to pass an exam and earn afterward similar to the security guard who wishes them good night. Perversos with a permanent post, but a post nonetheless.