The lack of manpower and the shortage of qualified personnel are some of the common complaints in the business world. On the other hand, high unemployment and low wages are endemic problems in our country that perpetuate job insecurity. Is there a solution to all this? What does the future hold for our young people? In the last ‘Que no faltin!’ of this year, David Garrofé, has answered these questions with the participation of the public of La Plaça of 11Onze.

The good performance of the labour market in our country is one of the few positive aspects in the current context of economic uncertainty. Despite the slight increase in the unemployment rate in Catalonia last November, the Catalan labour market continues to recover with respect to the previous year.

Even so, the Spanish state continues to double the unemployment rate of the European Union, although it has narrowed the gap thanks to strong growth. That said, comparisons of unemployment rates with other countries are only relatively useful, since, as the businessman and ex-secretary of Cecot explains, “the system we have for quantifying the unemployed is very imprecise, there are many people who are working who are counted as unemployed, and there are also many young people who do not sign up to the employment services”.

Regardless of the accuracy of the official figures, it cannot be denied that the unemployment rate in our country is excessively high. Likewise, we have “an economic model that is very focused on the services sector, with low added value and focused on tourism, which conditions a job profile with low salaries”, Garrofé points out.

Youth unemployment is a pending issue

With the highest youth unemployment rate in Europe – one in five of the unemployed is under 25 years of age – the precarious employment situation of young people in our country is a real problem that must be urgently addressed. What will our sons and daughters work as? What skills and abilities will they have to acquire? Will they have to leave the country to find a job?

These high unemployment figures seem incongruous to employers who cannot find the skilled labour they need, but as Garrofé explains, there are two factors to consider, “a large part of these qualified young people have not yet been born”, and what is worse, “there is a certain perception that formation is of no use“, and he continues, “those who do not invest in formation will have a very bad time, and will be permanently dragged along by subsidies”.

On the other hand, there has been an evolution of values in the new generations, which should not be confused with a lack of values, whereby flexibility at work and personal fulfilment that allow a better balance between work and personal life become more important.

Likewise, low salaries do not help, as they are uninspiring and lose loyalty, “we have created a financial bubble in which it is much more profitable to play with money than to invest in people“, so while “capital income has been rising, labour income has been falling”, says Garrofé.

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