labor market trends

Labor market trends in Spain: 4 big changes

As in any other country, and even more so since they are all so closely connected, the labor market trends in Spain are subject to changes, cycles, and variations that affect labor relations and the understanding that employees have of their approach to production. 

In life, there are things that never change or that seem to be in the same place as always, even in the same city and with the same people. However, for some time now we have been witnessing a change in labor market trends at various levels, including the thorny problem of how to take care of the psychological health of employees while taking care of the economic health of the company, and vice versa. Let us analyze for a moment this phenomenon that we are witnessing in the labor market in Spain. 

Labor market trends in Spain: a changing world

The change we are referring to is not new, but it has found renewed momentum since the outbreak of the pandemic. Among other consequences, the health emergency and its management has brought the importance of mental health and, in turn, the influence that the work we do has on it, repeatedly hitting the headlines and conversations. 

Only time – and what we all do during it – will tell what happens to that momentum. For better and for worse, it will have to find some form of crystallization, some form of concrete expression that will allow us to observe what it becomes

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mercado laboral en España

One possibility for this would be to verify whether all this time we have been witnessing a mirage, at the end of which we will return to the old (and bad) normality of the labor market trends in Spain in terms of the protection of psychological well-being in the workplace. 

Alternatively, we will have succeeded in creating, among all the agents involved, a new way of working based on updated guidelines for self-care on behalf of the employees, self-care on behalf of the company, and commitment on behalf of both for their mutual and balanced benefit. 

4 changes in Spanish labor market trends

1. The recruitment context

Without many people realizing it yet, in a matter of a few years we have gone from “sending our cv on paper everywhere” or “walking the streets handing in our cv in person” to a practically post-online paradigm

The new methodology could be summarized in, beyond the predominance of the Internet over face-to-face processes, the power of social media, apps, and other technological tools to access offers, sign up for them and start a selection process, if not carry it out almost entirely, is consolidated. 

2. Creation of new jobs

This is a constant and long-standing process, it is not new, but it continues to become more sophisticated with technology. As a result, there has been a rise in the number of new jobs that did not exist twenty, ten, or five years ago, but only one or two years ago. They have new names, involve new skills (or hard skills, as they are known in the HR field), and are the latest twist in the hyper-atomization and modernization of the labor market trends in Spain

3. Employee expectations

There is a temptation to think that today’s employees have new needs and that these are more humanized, more modern, more in tune with the reality of real people than those of the employees of five, ten, or twenty years ago. Hence, it is thought that their expectations, even the demands of care that drive the companies in which they work or intend to work, are new. 

In reality, it is very likely that, although the usual labor market no longer works, the needs of the human beings who form it do. Today’s people are not so modern: many of their needs are no different from those of generations of employees before them. They refer to physical and psychological well-being: generous salaries and not just at a decent level, the ability to balance different aspects of life, benefits that go beyond a pat on the back or free “goodies”, quality training provided by the company.

These are lifelong needs, but now they are expressed in ways that were previously silenced or considered impossible. 

4. Company mentality

Slowly, but surely, new labor market trends are being structured in a way that considers the care of employees as a value and not as a burden for the company. This ecosystem aims to establish new types of labor relations based on well-being as a tool for productivity and not on productivity at the expense of well-being. 

None of this would happen if it were not in interaction with the emergence of a new awareness in the bulk of the employees: a new way of taking care of our health of always is possible, it is good for us and, of course, it is good for the company. 

mercado laboral en España

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Emotional well-being for companies

​​​​​​​​At ifeel, we understand that it is not possible to take care of the company without taking care of the psychological well-being of its employees. To do so, we have an emotional well-being program for companies, designed by our team of occupational well-being psychologists with one main objective: to help companies place employee health at the center of their strategy to build their mission statement.  

Thanks to this partnership, the people in charge of HR departments can receive personalized, data-driven advice on how to make good decisions in a company to get the most out of the teams they are in charge of and take better care of the psychological well-being of the people in them. 

Moreover, this program offers employees a holistic mental health care service structured at different levels according to their needs. This service includes, if required, online psychological therapy with a psychologist specialized in cases like theirs. Try our program today so you can see how it could help you.

We hope you have found this post about labor market trends useful. If you want more information about our emotional well-being program for companies, simply request it and we will contact your team as soon as possible. You may also be interested in this post about mental health at work.

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