73.5% of companies and 61.46% of the self-employed do not see the four-day shift as viable, according to Adecco and Infoempleo

Regarding layoffs, only one in ten companies consulted declares that they will make layoffs

MADRID, 25 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Seven out of ten (73.51%) Spanish companies do not see the implementation of the four-day shift as viable, an opinion shared by 61.46% of the self-employed, as reflected in the new report by Infoempleo and Grupo Adecco.

These figures contrast with the opinion of the workers, since for two out of three (66.59%) it is possible to implement a four-day workday with wage maintenance, a percentage that falls to 50.69% in the case of the unemployed.

In the 'Infoempleo Adecco: Offer and Demand for Employment in Spain', it is highlighted that 41.53% of the surveyed organizations argue a lack of profit margin to maintain wages with better working hours, while workers and unemployed who do not see the four-day working day as possible consider that the reason is mainly due to the fact that companies are not willing to take on that working day.

Other reasons that the surveyed companies give for not implementing the four-day shift are the lack of productivity margin to amortize one shift per week (27.97%) and the impossibility of covering the fifth-day shift with other part-time workers (18.64%).

On the other hand, the Adecco and Infoempleo survey reveals that half (50.99%) of the companies say that they will keep their workforces as they are now, while 31.79% consider making new hires during 2023, which is 2.2% more than the previous year, despite the fact that six out of ten companies (60.93%) believe that the evolution of employment will be worse than in 2022 and only 6.62% trust that the Things will get better in the coming months.

Regarding layoffs, 11.92% of the companies consulted state that they will make layoffs, 3.97% will make salary cuts and the remaining 1.32% say that they will request to enter/extend ERE or ERTE.

On the other hand, 69.54% of the companies fear that the increase in costs could pose a serious danger to the continuity of their company, 62.91% believe that they will have problems due to the energy crisis, and 41.06% fear that consumption will not be reactivated due to inflation.

In the case of workers, employment is seen with more optimism, since more than half (51.97%) of those consulted say that they are not afraid of losing their job in 2023, but 43.58% believe that the labor market will evolve for the worse this year, while 36.85% expect it to be similar to what they experienced in 2022, and only 19.57% believe that it will be better.

41.95% of professionals looking for work think they have little or no chance of finding it and, among the main reasons they argue, 40.66% of the unemployed say that age continues to be the main obstacle they have to face, an opinion shared by 29.70% in 2020.

13.28% believe that the general state of the economy is a major barrier to reaching their goal of finding a job in 2023, while 11.90% think that companies are not looking for profiles like theirs, and 7.16% believe that they lack experience.

The report also highlights that 43.71% of companies believe that offering flexible hours can be one of the most effective measures both to get out of the crisis and to improve their competitiveness, and 31.13% believe that offering variable remuneration would also be a good measure to attract talent, as well as a substantial improvement in working conditions (24.50%) and offering the possibility of teleworking (21.85%).

Other formulas that they cite as valid to improve their competitiveness in the future are direct temporary hiring (32.45%) and part-time hiring (17.22%).

Regarding teleworking, 66.23% confirm that they currently do not provide their employees with the possibility of teleworking and, of these, 31.79% give as a reason that the nature of their activity does not allow them to use this formula.

Regarding workers, 72.69% confirm that during 2022 their company has no longer provided them with the possibility of teleworking, while 27.31% have had this option.

The option of face-to-face work also wins in the case of the self-employed (60.94%) compared to remote work (39.06%) and the main reason they give is that they prefer to go to the workplace to socialize and be able to meet clients personally (67.52%).