The president of the National Confederation of Construction in Spain, Pedro Fernandez, said last Tuesday that the construction sector is expected to attract around 700,000 new workers, especially young people, in the coming months. He also added that this number is important in order to be able to meet the requirements of large projects that will be completed in Spain with European funds, adding: “We are not only bricks, cement and a wheelbarrow, we are also new forms. energy, sustainable development and new technologies. ” He continued: “Next year it will reach 70 billion euros, seven out of 10 euros will be spent directly or indirectly in the construction sector”, stressing that it is not only about housing, but also wind farms, photovoltaics, coastal renovation or wired and wireless communication infrastructure.
He stressed, “All of this needs to be built and we need workers,” explaining that “the need for 700,000 workers in the construction industry came after calculations made by the Construction Workers Foundation (an organization joint of associations of the construction sector in Spain which includes both the employers’ union and representatives of the union), industry, construction and agriculture in Spain, through which the training and training of professionals of this sector are directed). For his part, Sergio Estella, secretary of construction and mining at the Spanish Federation of Workers, said: “We need workers from all trades, construction workers, electricians, crane operators, foremen, foremen, engineers.
They are not just workers, for example, we have rehabilitation and insulation work on buildings that not everyone can install, very specialized work. It should be noted that at the end of last June, 1,324 million Spaniards worked in construction, according to the latest survey on the active population (EPA) published by the National Institute of Statistics. The vast majority of them are men: over 1.2 million workers, compared to around 121,000 women.
In this context, the Federation of Businessmen of the Construction Sector believes that part of the old workforce can be replenished, but not all because there is a percentage that has simply retired. Others have moved to other sectors such as tourism and hospitality, and some have returned because wages are higher, given that the average age of construction workers in Spain is 46.
. But the union says the construction sector “is facing gradual aging, so we need to attract young workers, especially when we have 38% youth unemployment in Spain”. On April 27, the Spanish government announced its approval of an economic recovery plan based on European Union funds. Madrid will receive funds from the European Union in the amount of 140 billion euros, of which about half in the form of non-repayable grants. The government plans to invest 13.2 billion euros to encourage the use of electric cars and 6.8 billion euros to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. The government’s plan also provides for the allocation of 4.3 billion euros to modernize the public administration.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said at the end of June that his country’s economic output recorded a record increase of 18% in the second quarter of this year. Over the past year, Spain’s gross domestic product has contracted by 10.8%, and for several months, official data has indicated a strong economic recovery that has led to upward adjustments in growth. The Spanish Central Bank expects GDP growth to reach 6.2% this year. While the government’s growth forecast for the current year is around 6.5%.
