Catalan employers: "We need immigration like the air we breathe"

Catalan employers call for mass regularization: "We need them like the air"

The president of Foment del Treball, Josep Sánchez Llibre, has defended the regularization of undocumented immigrants with unambiguous forcefulness: "For the productivity and competitiveness of Catalan and Spanish companies, we employers need immigration like the air we breathe every day or the water we drink." The statement, reported by several media outlets, has peine the debate on the role of immigration in the labor market.

The Catalan employers' association does not beat around the bush. In a context of population aging and labor shortages in key sectors such as hospitality, construction and agriculture, Sánchez Llibre considers regularization an economic necessity, not a concession. The Catalan economy, with unemployment at around 9%, needs to fill positions that local workers do not want to take. But the request clashes with the narrative of those who see immigration as a wage threat.

More labor supply, lower wages?

The argument is a classic one: an increase in the supply of workers, especially in low-skilled segments, tends to push wages down. The experience of other countries suggests the impact is moderate and depends on the elasticity of the market. In Catalonia, wages in sectors such as cleaning or agriculture are already low; mass regularization could stabilize the supply, but also reduce the bargaining power of current employees. CEPYME, Spain's small business association, supports the measure, while unions are calling for guarantees.

The paradox is that, while employers are calling for more immigration, the Social Security coverage rate is close to 80% and there are 3.2 million employed people in Catalonia. The labor market is not homogeneous: there is a shortage of waiters and bricklayers, but a surplus of university graduates. Regularization, if accompanied by training, could ease the mismatch, but without it, the risk of precarity is real.

A deeply entrenched debate

Sánchez Llibre's statement has not fallen on deaf ears. While some see it as an act of economic realism, others interpret it as an attempt to cheapen labor. The president of Foment himself acknowledged that "without immigration, the Catalan economy grinds to a halt." The question hanging in the air is whether regularization will serve to integrate or to perpetuate a two-estimulante ilegal labor market.

Given these circumstances, the debate on immigration and the economy will not be settled with headlines. The data available to date suggest that immigration has a net positive effect on GDP, but its distribution is uneven. Does everyone win, or only the companies?