No one anticipates that the slightest contribution will result in job losses amid the unemployment statistics. This is why it is somewhat surprising that the islands experienced an increase of 179 unemployed individuals in the first month of the year. The figures translate to a significant loss of 8,267 jobs, primarily in the commerce sector (3,152), as reported yesterday by the Ministry of Social Security. Nonetheless, the number of employed individuals in the Autonomous Community (932,421) remains the third-highest on record.
Pedro Alfonso, the president of CEOE-HEPERIFE, noted that a considerable number of employees opt not to register for unemployment immediately due to the low likelihood of securing a contract. These individuals typically depend on “temporary campaigns,” according to the business representative, particularly during festive periods, such as Christmas. Another contributing factor to this situation is the discontinuous fixed employment.
This concern was echoed by the provincial employer organisation in Las Palmas, the Confederación Canaria de Entrepreneurs (CCE), which cautioned against a potential “underestimation” of the unemployment data, “especially compared to the national average.” Inactive workers included in this tally have surged nationally by 148,759 over the last three months; in the islands, the figure has risen by 1,173 since October.
156,523 Unemployed
The data presented yesterday by the Ministry of Labour indicates that there are now 156,523 citizens unemployed; overall, there are 2,599,443 across the State, with 38,725 new cases recorded in January. Only the Balearic Islands managed to avoid this widespread increase in unemployment. In the remaining 16 autonomous communities, the numbers rose.
Additionally, the festive season at the year’s end and the impact of the Bridge of the Constitution, which this year resulted in only a long weekend (as December 8 fell on a Monday), influenced the demand for labour in the hospitality sector. By January 1, 615 contracts had concluded in that field. Administrative activities and auxiliary services (-1,467) also contributed significantly to the job losses.
The services sector has a net loss of 7,416 fewer workers, as stated. Construction (438), industry (260), and agriculture (154) also contributed to the contraction of the Canarian labour market. Here, it again becomes clear that the inaccuracies in the unemployment register at the offices of the Canarian employment service are evident.
Only Services Add Unemployed
Both Manuel Navarro, the General Secretary of UGT-Canarias, and Santiago Sesé, the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, agreed on the need to mitigate the rise in unemployment. However, they diverged on other aspects that warrant evaluation.
“There is an abuse of overtime that are not always paid properly.”
Manuel Navarro
– General Secretary of UGT-Canarias
The union leader expressed concern regarding the 56% temporary nature of contracts signed in January. “This is where our focus should lie,” Navarro stated, lamenting the excessive use of “overtime that is not always compensated correctly.”
Sése, on the other hand, warned about the implications of reducing working hours. He deemed it part of “arbitrary agreements” and presented the potential negative ramifications for “a service economy” such as that of the Canaries, where “small and medium enterprises predominate and rely heavily on face-to-face interaction and possess limited financial resources to adapt to these regulatory changes.
“Small and medium enterprises predominate that require greater face-to-face interaction.”
Santiago Sesé
– President of the Chamber of Commerce of Santa Cruz de Tenerife
From the Canary Islands government, Vice Minister of Employment, Isabel León, highlighted the 970 long-term unemployed individuals who successfully obtained employment throughout January, marking the best outcome since 2009. She emphasised the “positive trend observed among those within priority groups targeted by autonomous employment policies.” Remarkably, 796 individuals aged over 45 also secured jobs.
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