The good tone of the labor market in Catalonia (and in Spain) so far this year continues to be overshadowed by the continuous growth of dismissals due to employment regulation files (ERE). In the first nine months, those affected in the Catalan community increased by 43%, up to 4,998.
The largest group is information technology (ICT) services companies with 675 people. In this segment, the collective dismissal process of Facebook’s subcontractor, Telus, stands out, which agreed with the unions to cut 251 jobs. The company located in the Agbar Tower in Barcelona is also immersed in a judicial process for the occupational health of its employees.
Cristina Torre, Secretary of Union Action of CC.OO. Catalunya, points out that “the technological services sector has had great growth for 10 years and now it is suffering some adjustments to business evolution and there is a trickle of ERE.” This year there have also been job cuts in other technology companies such as Glovo, Wallbox or Tripadvisor. In the latter, last week an agreement was signed so that part of the 69 laid off were through voluntary departures.
The crisis in this sector is not a process that occurs exclusively in Catalonia since it has a global effect with layoffs in large multinationals. It was a process that intensified in the first part of the year.
The global figures will grow at the end of the year since the data until September 30 released on Friday by the Department of Labor of the Generalitat do not account for large adjustments such as that of Roca. Only in the historic toilet factory located between Gavà and Viladecans, 168 jobs will be lost, a quarter of the workforce. In this case, the unions agreed with the company that the adjustment will be carried out through early retirement from the age of 53.
The number of dismissals due to ERE in Catalonia in the first nine months of the year is already higher than the annual figure between 2014 and 2018. If the current trend continues and with the ERE already known as that of Roca Sanitario, this year The volume of dismissals in collective processes that occurred last year will be exceeded.
Núria Gilgado, Secretary of Union Policy at UGT Catalunya, maintains that the increase in layoffs is not linked to the application of the labor reform and the consequent reduction in temporary employment. Torre is of the same opinion and dissociates it from the reduction in temporary employment that the labor reform has brought. Furthermore, dismissals as an alternative to temporary contracts would occur through individual conciliations and not through collective processes such as an ERE.
Where there has been a process contrary to that of dismissals is in the suspension and reduction of working hours files. In both cases the impact is minor given that supply chains have been normalized and this year companies have been forced to stop their factories less than last year. Even so, data from the Teball Department show that in the first nine months of the year there were more than 22,000 workers affected by a suspension of contracts compared to 45,000 the previous year. Something similar happened in those affected by reduction in working hours, which fell to 1,777 from 4,277 a year before.
