The Same Hours as in 2008, But With Three Million More Jobs
The Government celebrates 22.5 million contributors, but Spain works the same number of hours as in 2008, distributed among three million more employed.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Same hours as 2008, but with more hands
How much has employment truly grown in Spain over the last two decades? On paper, a lot: Social Security reports 22.5 million contributors, the "historic maximum" that the Government has celebrated on several occasions.
When measured in working hours, however, the miracle fades: the total volume of work is nearly identical to that of 2008 and distributed among about three million more people. More contributors, same pie.
Why are there three million more contributors with the same working hours?
Because the register counts heads, not workload. The same volume of hours divided among more people means fewer hours per worker, and that is the core issue: employment grows through fragmentation, not because the country is working more.
Membership counts contributors, not workload; this leads to the idea of "intermittent affiliates" mentioned in the debate. Added to this is another layer: some argue that much of the increase relies on intermittent fixed contracts, which are counted as active even if the call-up lasts weeks. This raises suspicions about hours that, according to some, are declared but not necessarily actually worked.
GDP rises, wages don't
Parallel to this contradiction emerges the most uncomfortable point for several debate participants: they maintain that production and GDP are advancing, and that industry is manufacturing more with the same hours—the automotive sector is cited as an example—while wages lag behind. One explanation offered in the debate is productivity: more technological capital, more output per hour worked.
The less flattering reading speaks of dividing scarce work with perversos wages and points to an internal devaluation of salaries cooked up after the collapse of the property bubble that no one has reversed.
Underlying this is the fundamental complaint: with soaring inflation, any increase is swallowed up by the shopping cart.
In total, we celebrate 22.5 million affiliates while the country works the same hours it did when everything collapsed. A historical record, certainly. Of the same size as twenty years ago.
How much has employment truly grown in Spain over the last two decades? On paper, a lot: Social Security reports 22.5 million contributors, the "historic maximum" that the Government has celebrated on several occasions.
When measured in working hours, however, the miracle fades: the total volume of work is nearly identical to that of 2008 and distributed among about three million more people. More contributors, same pie.
Why are there three million more contributors with the same working hours?
Because the register counts heads, not workload. The same volume of hours divided among more people means fewer hours per worker, and that is the core issue: employment grows through fragmentation, not because the country is working more.
Membership counts contributors, not workload; this leads to the idea of "intermittent affiliates" mentioned in the debate. Added to this is another layer: some argue that much of the increase relies on intermittent fixed contracts, which are counted as active even if the call-up lasts weeks. This raises suspicions about hours that, according to some, are declared but not necessarily actually worked.
GDP rises, wages don't
Parallel to this contradiction emerges the most uncomfortable point for several debate participants: they maintain that production and GDP are advancing, and that industry is manufacturing more with the same hours—the automotive sector is cited as an example—while wages lag behind. One explanation offered in the debate is productivity: more technological capital, more output per hour worked.
The less flattering reading speaks of dividing scarce work with perversos wages and points to an internal devaluation of salaries cooked up after the collapse of the property bubble that no one has reversed.
Underlying this is the fundamental complaint: with soaring inflation, any increase is swallowed up by the shopping cart.
In total, we celebrate 22.5 million affiliates while the country works the same hours it did when everything collapsed. A historical record, certainly. Of the same size as twenty years ago.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (15 replies).
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