More than seven Spanish companies out of ten do not see the implementation of the four-day work model as viable. 73.51% of the companies together with 61.46% of the self-employed reflect a pessimistic position regarding the reduction in working hours. In the same way it happens with teleworking, more and more companies decide not to offer it and the self-employed prefer to go in person, as reported by the new analysis of Infoempleo and the Adecco Group.
For their part, these figures compare with the opinion of the workers because for two out of three (66.59%) it is possible to build a four-day shift with salary maintenance, a percentage that falls to 50.69% in the case of employees. The report also highlights that 41.53% of the organizations surveyed argue a lack of profit margin to maintain wages with better hours. While the workers and unemployed assure that the companies are not willing to take on that four-day shift.
Other reasons that the companies surveyed give for not implementing this reduced working day are the lack of productivity margin to amortize one working day a week, 27.97%, while the impossibility of covering the fifth day with other part-time workers, 18.64%.
The intention to hire rises compared to 2022
On the other hand, the Adecco and Infoempleo survey reveals that half (50.99%) of the companies say that they will keep their workforces as they are now, while 31.79% consider making new hires during 2023, which is 2.2% more than the previous year, despite the fact that six out of ten companies (60.93%) believe that the evolution of employment will be worse than in 2022 and only 6.62% trust that the Things will get better in the coming months.
Regarding layoffs, 11.92% of the companies consulted state that they will make layoffs, 3.97% will make salary cuts and the remaining 1.32% say that they will request to enter/extend ERE or ERTE.
On the other hand, 69.54% of the companies fear that the increase in costs could pose a serious danger to the continuity of their company, 62.91% believe that they will have problems due to the energy crisis, and 41.06% fear that consumption will not be reactivated due to inflation.
In the case of workers, employment is seen with more optimism, since more than half (51.97%) of those consulted say that they are not afraid of losing their job in 2023, but 43.58% believe that the labor market will evolve for the worse this year, while 36.85% expect it to be similar to what they experienced in 2022, and only 19.57% believe that it will be.
Labor ageism grows in Spain
41.95% of professionals looking for work think they have little or no chance of finding it and, among the main reasons they give, 40.66% of the unemployed say that age continues to be the main obstacle they have to face, an opinion shared by 29.70% in 2020.
13.28% believe that the general state of the economy is a great barrier to reaching their goal of finding a job in 2023, while 11.90% think that companies do not look for profiles like theirs, and 7.16% believe that they lack experience.
Flexibility and compensation to attract talent
The report also highlights that 43.71% of companies believe that offering flexible hours can be one of the most effective measures both to get out of the crisis and to improve their competitiveness, and 31.13% believe that offering variable remuneration will also be a good measure to attract talent, as well as a substantial improvement in working conditions (24.50%) and offering the possibility of teleworking (21.85%).
Other formulas that they cite as valid to improve their competitiveness in the future are direct temporary hiring (32.45%) and part-time hiring (17.22%).
Teleworking is reduced
Regarding teleworking in companies, 66.23% confirm that they currently do not provide their employees with the possibility of teleworking and, of these, 31.79% give as a reason that the nature of their activity does not allow them to use this formula.
Regarding workers, 72.69% confirm that during 2022 their company has no longer provided them with the possibility of teleworking, while 27.31% have had this option.
The option of face-to-face work also wins in the case of the self-employed (60.94%) compared to remote work (39.06%) and the main reason they give is that they prefer to go to the workplace to socialize and be able to meet clients personally (67.52%).
