Why can’t Galician companies find staff for more than 13,800 vacancies?

IN Galicia There are 139,343 people on the list of unemployed, despite the fact that companies still have problems filling certain positions. The vacancies in the community reach 13,841 (among companies with more than 10 employees), according to data for the first quarter of 2023 published this Friday by the Galician Institute of Statistics (IGE).

although labor force deficit fell by 13.5% in the community compared to the same period last year, statistics show that problems in hiring employees still exist as vacancies increased by 1,034 compared to the last quarter of 2022.

Large companies have the most trouble filling this shortage of skilled personnel, with up to two out of ten unfilled jobs related to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) degrees.

However, Why do companies in Galicia have so many problems with hiring workers?

Four out of ten admit that this is the main obstacle candidates reject offers because they think it is salaries are not suitable or due to working conditions [horarios, turnos, libranzas, vacaciones, conciliación, oportunidades de promoción y formación] and other job circumstances are not ideal.

This evidence is in line with a recent study published by the European Trade Union Confederation, which found that vacancies rose more in the lowest-paid sectors.

The public blames the main employers for the problems lack of qualified workersbut in the IGE survey, only 35% of companies used this reason to justify absences.

Only every tenth company that does not cover vacancies attributes this to labor costs

Despite the fact that businessmen have repeatedly repeated that the increase in labor costswhether due to an increase in the minimum wage or an increase in contributions, it will result in a decrease in the creation of new jobs, the truth is that in Galicia it is not a weighty factor.

According to INE research, 85.5% of companies that do not fill vacancies in the community do not do so because they simply do not need staff. Only 9.5% state that they could not hire staff due to “high recruitment costs”a percentage that fell from 13.16% a year ago.