Why Spain imports talent while making life hard for its own young people
Youth unemployment above 28% in 2023, the highest rate in the EU, and young people leaving home at 30.3 on average. The keys to the mismatch.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Spain does not have a talent shortage problem, but a conditions problem: it trains professionals who find better salaries and more affordable housing abroad. The contradiction lies not with those arriving from outside, but in a labour market and red tape that make staying expensive.
## A market that pushes out the newly qualified
Every year Spain trains thousands of professionals who finish their degrees and discover that their first decent contract is abroad. The youth unemployment rate stood **above 28%** in 2023, the highest rate in the **European Union** according to Eurostat, and the problem does not end with a university degree.
It is not only those who could not find anything who emigrate. Doctors, engineers and researchers sign contracts in Germany, the Netherlands or Switzerland because salaries, working hours and housing prices paint a different equation. The register of Spaniards living abroad exceeded **2.7 million** people in early 2024.
## Red tape, costs and companies that do not grow
The **Ley 28/2022** (Spain's startup law) sought exactly that: shortening the timelines for setting up emerging companies and attracting investment and talent from abroad. Every week of paperwork is a week without hiring.
The cost of hiring does not encourage growth either. On top of social security contributions comes ever-changing regulation, and many companies prefer to stay as they are. Nobody invests on a five-year horizon in a framework that is revised every season.
## Housing: the bottleneck where the jobs are
The average age of leaving home in Spain reached **30.3 years** in 2023, according to the Spanish Youth Council, above the European average. Without affordable housing, a young salary builds no wealth: it dissolves into rent.
The **Ley 12/2023** (Spain's housing rights law) focused on prices in tight housing markets. The underlying mismatch remains: jobs are concentrated where housing costs the most and new supply does not keep pace with demand.
## What is proposed and what is measured
The **PP** (Spain's conservative party) proposes administrative simplification and measures geared to business activity. **Vox** insists on tax cuts and regulatory changes. Comparing concrete proposals requires looking at productivity, wages and opportunities, not at the headline of the day.
There is an uncomfortable question underneath: how should an employment policy be evaluated? If the criterion is the number of announcements rather than the contracts it generates, it is designed for the photo op.
Any tax or housing change affects family wealth, so it is worth checking with an adviser before deciding.
## A market that pushes out the newly qualified
Every year Spain trains thousands of professionals who finish their degrees and discover that their first decent contract is abroad. The youth unemployment rate stood **above 28%** in 2023, the highest rate in the **European Union** according to Eurostat, and the problem does not end with a university degree.
It is not only those who could not find anything who emigrate. Doctors, engineers and researchers sign contracts in Germany, the Netherlands or Switzerland because salaries, working hours and housing prices paint a different equation. The register of Spaniards living abroad exceeded **2.7 million** people in early 2024.
## Red tape, costs and companies that do not grow
The **Ley 28/2022** (Spain's startup law) sought exactly that: shortening the timelines for setting up emerging companies and attracting investment and talent from abroad. Every week of paperwork is a week without hiring.
The cost of hiring does not encourage growth either. On top of social security contributions comes ever-changing regulation, and many companies prefer to stay as they are. Nobody invests on a five-year horizon in a framework that is revised every season.
## Housing: the bottleneck where the jobs are
The average age of leaving home in Spain reached **30.3 years** in 2023, according to the Spanish Youth Council, above the European average. Without affordable housing, a young salary builds no wealth: it dissolves into rent.
The **Ley 12/2023** (Spain's housing rights law) focused on prices in tight housing markets. The underlying mismatch remains: jobs are concentrated where housing costs the most and new supply does not keep pace with demand.
## What is proposed and what is measured
The **PP** (Spain's conservative party) proposes administrative simplification and measures geared to business activity. **Vox** insists on tax cuts and regulatory changes. Comparing concrete proposals requires looking at productivity, wages and opportunities, not at the headline of the day.
There is an uncomfortable question underneath: how should an employment policy be evaluated? If the criterion is the number of announcements rather than the contracts it generates, it is designed for the photo op.
Any tax or housing change affects family wealth, so it is worth checking with an adviser before deciding.
Also available in: Deutsch
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (1 replies).
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