BOE Creates Seven Out of Ten Jobs by 2026

Eight Years Programming and Unemployed: The Jobs That Go Unseen by the Numbers

Of the accumulated job gains in 2026, 337,917 originate from a single source: the extraordinary regularization of migrants that the government launched in April. Out of just over 500,000 net affiliates in the year, this accounts for 68%. In other words, seven out of ten new contributors do not come from jobs generated by the economy, but from workers who were already here and whom a decree turned into registered employees. With such a headline, unemployment ceases to be a statistic and becomes a question: what kind of work are we talking about when we talk about work?

Seven Out of Ten Jobs Created by the BOE, Not the Market

The data has been circulating since the "graph of the week" was published, with a phrase that summarizes the discontent: jobs in 2026 are created by the BOE. Macroeconomic figures add up, contributor numbers grow, and yet the feeling on the street is the opposite. Some argue that the private sector barely generates net positions and that public employment—and administrative amnesties—sustain the official narrative. The issue is not whether the figures exist. It's what they tell us.

Eight Years as a Programmer and Unemployed

The most uncomfortable case for the narrative that there's a shortage of qualified people: a developer with eight years of experience in IT, with Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, and SQL, out of work. "There's almost no work for senior programmers, who used to be the most in-demand", says another. Technology, which for years was a safe haven, is beginning to show cracks. The most common explanation points to AI lowering company profit margins, and when that adjustment cannot be passed on to the final product, it ends up affecting staff.

Why Do So Many Offers Ask for a Disability Certificate?

On InfoJobs, there are 4,771 offers tagged as "disability." Of these, 3,503 require only zero or one year of experience: 73%. The interpretation is twofold, and neither is comfortable. On one hand, there are accessible jobs that require almost no prior background, benefiting those seeking their first contract. On the other hand, the suspicion grows that many companies use these vacancies to meet quotas, not because they genuinely need to fill a specific position. In some regional accounts, only offers of this type appear to clean up numbers. The result, in any case, leaves candidates without a certificate feeling bewildered.

Age as a Sentence: Over 50 Means You're No Good

"After 50, workers are considered labor discards". This phrase, repeated with variations, explains why the subsidy for those over 52 exists. They receive about 480 euros per month, and no one can live on that. Some claim that a good portion of those receiving it have been unable to find work for years and that companies discard even experienced individuals based on age. Younger workers of 25, with no health problems and willing to earn less, put pressure from below. In the middle is an entire segment of workers whom the market treats as disposable material.

1,500 Candidates for a Shelf-Stacker Position

The real test is in the volume. In Seville, there are 1,500 people signed up for each cashier/shelf-stacker position. An active search is measured in hundreds of applications: 155 sent, 200 expected by the end of the week, and only 10 selection processes open since August. "It's hard, very hard". The other side of the coin: in some technical trades, workshops cannot find trained staff, and a well-trained young person ends up as a workshop manager at 23. The gap is not about willingness. It's about supply and price.

The Three Kings' Wish List

For the simplest job, the offer asks for a unicorn: impossible requirements, peanuts salary, and an initial filter managed by someone from human resources who doesn't know the job and just checks a list. When the same company reposts the vacancy every week and adds another requirement each time, they are no longer searching; they are accumulating résumés. And some estimate that half of the job offers are fake, published only to give the appearance that the company is active. The portal thus becomes a showcase, not a marketplace.

The Country That Offers Misery and Calls Lazy Those Who Don't Accept It

"There's a lot of work. What there isn't is money to pay for it". This phrase, repeated with various embellishments, summarizes the most shared thesis. Twelve hours a day, six days a week for 600 euros is not an offer; it's a warning. Part of the disillusionment is attributed to dumping between companies; another part, to the burden of small and medium-sized enterprises that barely survive and cannot pay more. Both things can be true simultaneously. It could also be true that the real problem is not a lack of demand, but the price at which other people's time is bought. Is there too much work, or is there simply a lack of people willing to do it for less than it costs to live?