The complicated access of citizens to housing is one of the main problems plaguing the country. The new Housing Law, together with the rise in rates or inflation, have further complicated the scenario, reducing purchasing capacity and rental supply, increasing pressure on the construction sector, which has not yet recovered from the crisis. crisis experienced more than a decade ago, which puts at risk the expected delivery times being met; moderating the current problem of access to housing.
Just before the real estate crisis of 2008, the sector had more than 2 million employees, says the secretary of the construction and mining sector of UGT FICA, Sergio Estela to La Información. Some figures that have not been recovered. As of August 31, construction had more than 1.3 million workers, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
The brick crisis in 2008 brought with it different problems and one of them was the “stigmatization of the sector,” explains the secretary of the construction and mining sector of UGT FICA. Furthermore, given the uncertainty caused by the real estate crisis, “people had to leave the sector” and now this poses a handicap of “generational change,” says Estela.
Young people do not believe that this is a good sector to begin their career path, despite the data published by the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy which reflects that unemployment has increased this month of August by 2.13% compared to the month . previous, standing at 187,597 young people (under 25 years of age) unemployed.
Improvements to attract labor.
Since the problem has reached these levels, the different unions have negotiated improvements with the Government so that there is a qualified and professionally prepared workforce. An agreement was recently signed that entailed, among others, “salary increases above the average, good conditions” and good management related to pensions, another of the problems that most concern the country, highlights the secretary of the UGT sector. . FICA. Estela admits that another of the points that have been discussed for the sector to improve is the “protocol” that was signed to cease activity during working hours if the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) declared a red or orange alert.
“The lowest salary in construction in Spain is 30% higher than the SMI” – Pedro Fernández Alén, president of CNC and FLC
The situation has already become widespread, because the European Union is also suffering from this movement of the sector towards a non-competitive side, comments Estela. But to improve the workplace, the Construction Labor Foundation with UGT has agreed, through different degrees, on better training for potential employees. In addition, they have built a portal “Construyendoempleo”, where companies and job seekers can access a job board, the UGT FICA member tells Information. For his part, the president of the CNC and FLC admits to La Información that “we have been demanding for a long time a Shock Plan to multiply the number of students trained in construction,” which could even multiply their number by two, since There are “more than 160,000 job opportunities until 2030, according to the latest report from the Industrial Construction Observatory, related to vocational training.”
“At this time the sector needs about 700,000 workers to take on the challenges set by the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan” – President of CNC Y FLC
But the low supply and demand in the sector has also had repercussions in the area of costs, mainly due to the increase in materials, mainly due to the war between Russia and Ukraine, although a slight “moderation” is seen, detail Wake. This increase in prices will participate very directly in the construction time of the houses, since such costs cannot be met. The secretary of the sector refers to the fact that some autonomous communities have already been harmed in this sense, so the delivery of houses and also infrastructure could be delayed, something with which Pedro Fernández Alén, the president of Construction, also agrees ( CNC) and the Construction Labor Foundation (FLC).
In this sense, Fernández-Alén adds that other “issues” could be affected, such as “the timely execution of strategic projects of the Recovery Plan, such as those related to the ecological and digital transition.” e more clearly in the granting of visas, since in recent years it has experienced a decrease, both in new works and rehabilitation, according to data published by the Construction Labor Foundation with data from Official Colleges of Technical Architects that public to the Ministry of Transport, Mobility. and Urban Agenda (MITMA).
New technologies also play a valuable role in this sector. The incorporation of these has challenged all sectors, with construction being seen as a very useful sector for them, “the sector is modernizing by leaps and bounds,” says Fernández. From UGT FICA, Sergio Estela outlines the new methods with which they work, emphasizing that it may prove to be a new inconvenience for this sector that is going through bad times.
