Forum Thread: "Jobs Going to Foreign Workers"

Forum thread claims "jobs are going to foreigners"

A forum post suggests that jobs are being given to foreign workers, in a context where another participant notes there are over 3,000,000 unemployed people. The underlying question is uncomfortable to voice: why is foreign labor being brought in when there are still unemployed people within the country willing to work?

The Salary That Scares Off National Candidates

One participant summarizes it with a figure: according to their calculation, a company prefers to pay €1,100 net per month to a foreign worker rather than €1,350 net to a native who wants to start a family. The difference is not a mere accounting detail; it's the difference between a job that allows one to live alone or to support a household. This margin, multiplied across entire workforces, determines who gets hired.

The most repeated argument in the thread suggests the problem isn't the supply, but the conditions. Jobs with poor conditions, low job security, and salaries that don't allow access to housing, no matter how hard one works. In agriculture, a participant's account of an acquaintance earning €900 per month for orange picking describes a market where hard work alone is no longer competitive.

Why Does No One Want to Pick Oranges or Serve Drinks?

The answer points to the exhaustion of the model. One current of thought in the thread argues that Spain has become too comfortable and that no young person today would accept what their grandfather accepted without hesitation. The opposing view replies that the complaint hides the real cause: if the salary isn't enough for a roof over one's head and food, the job isn't a job, it's a trap.

Both interpretations converge on one point: the thread suggests that the hiring of foreign workers has been used to spare natives from tough jobs and to maintain services at bargain prices. The detail is that, according to this diagnosis, most of the employment generated in Spain belongs precisely to this segment.

The Production Model: Waiters, Builders, and Little Technology

The underlying diagnosis points to the type of employment produced by the Spanish economy: unskilled labor, low added value, significant manual effort, and little automation outside of industry. Meanwhile, nationals study careers with scarce job prospects or prepare for civil service exams, and those who can, emigrate.

Some sum it up bluntly: all net employment is unskilled, and the only interest is to make it as cheap as possible. Zero industry, zero research, competitiveness based on the price of basic services, not technology. Under this umbrella, that salary differential would not be an anomaly but the system functioning as designed.

Unions and Government Enter the Fray

One participant argues that, in an election year, unions and part of the government changed their tune. According to their post, UGT and CCOO (trade unions) — and Unidas Podemos, led by Vice President Yolanda Díaz — opposed bringing in foreign labor to a country with high unemployment, citing UGT's general secretary, Pepe Álvarez: “We are not going to join this easy trend that will eventually lead to claims that people in Spain don't want to work.” The shift left many feeling the message was late and politically motivated.

Part of the analysis shifts the focus elsewhere: to employers' associations. It is argued that companies are the ones pressuring to facilitate the hiring of foreigners and that, with effective inspections and fines for abusa labor conditions, there wouldn't be such a need to bring in workers from abroad.

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The exchange of opinions leads to a conclusion that no one fully endorses. If, as the thread suggests, jobs are going to foreigners and nationals are losing positions, there's a structural issue that doesn't add up. The analysis gets stuck right where the truly uncomfortable questions begin: who benefits from things staying this way.