A new report from the Valencian Institute of Economic Research (Ivie), this time with the help of the Ramón Areces Foundation, has tracked the indicators of the quality of employment in the labor market and its conclusions do not leave the Valencian Community. Aspects such as low salaries, temporary employment or overqualification have been evaluated by the report to conclude that Valencian employment is closer to Castilla-La Mancha, Murcia or Extremadura – the last one in line – than to the Basque Country, Madrid or Catalonia, the trident that heads the ranking.
“The Valencian Community is the one that has improved the most, but it always remains below the national average. It is in the group of autonomous communities with the lowest quality of employment, such as Murcia, Andalusia, the Canary Islands or Extremadura. Although it is one of the which has shown more intense progress,” said Lorenzo Serrano, director of the report presented this Tuesday.
In this improvement that Serrano has pointed out, the researchers recognize an improvement in the overqualification of employees – “which is still below average, although it is the one that has advanced the most” – but they highlight that there is still a lack of training. “The gap is very large, especially if you compare yourself with Madrid or the Basque Country,” added Fernando Pascual, another of the researchers.
Another of the indicators analyzed in detail is remuneration, which stands at 23,500 euros, 9% below the national average, the average salary received in the Valencian Community. The researchers explain that it is the same percentage as in 2007 and although the average profit is 5% higher, “there is still a gap,” said Serrano. Compared to these annual salaries are the 31,064 euros received on average in the Basque Country or the 29,513 in the Community of Madrid.
In this regard, the authors assure that these differences in salary range have a lot to do with the level of training and the sector in which one works. They point out that the most advanced territories have larger medium-sized companies and in the Valencian Community, for example, “productive specialization is not favorable and the level of education is also a hindrance. This influences the salary to be lower, and that too affects productivity,” they explained.
In terms of salaries, the text specifies that “the only clear progress is the reduction of the gender gap”, which in the Valencian Community has fallen by more than seven points. Currently it is 10.8% compared to the 9.8% national average.
Another issue that the report focuses on is teleworking and its advance as a result of the pandemic. It is currently 13% in the Valencian Community, in line with the 14% national average. The European average is still far away, which is 22.4%.
And related to the duration of work and conciliation, the study shows a rebound in the increase in hours worked after the pandemic. In the third quarter of 2023, 41% of workers work long hours and 5.8% work very long hours. In the Valencian Community, 6.3% of employed people work days equal to or greater than 49 hours per week, which is half a point above the national average. Furthermore, 15.9% of employed people work in the late afternoon (16.6% in Spain), 5.8% at night (compared to 5.4%), on Saturdays (27.3% in Valencian territory, compared to 28.3% of the national average) or on Sundays (14% vs 17.1%) and 23.8% of employees work shifts, compared to 21.9% of the Spanish average.
