Agriculture generated 1.2 million contracts in the first semester, of which a quarter were indefinite

MADRID, 25 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Agriculture generated more than 1.2 million contracts during the first half of the year, of which 74.2% correspond to fixed-term contracts (926,790) and 25.8% to indefinite contracts (321,848), according to It follows from the data analyzed by the human resources company Randstad.

Specifically, the report shows that the volume this year is 14.5% lower than that of the first six months of 2021, although the indefinite ones soared in the current one, multiplying approximately by five.

In fact, in 2021, permanent contracts barely accounted for 4.3%, while they currently represent 25.8%.

The director of Randstad Research, Valentín Bote, has explained these records. "These figures indicate not only the importance of the primary sector in our economy, but also that it is a consequence of the entry into force of the labor reform, since the total number of contracts has been reduced by the new formulas and by the dynamic of indefinite contracts introduced by the new regulations", he pointed out.

After reviewing the historical series of the last ten years, it is verified that, despite the impact of the labor reform, the reduction in the total volume of firms with respect to the semester of 2021 is a habitual trend in the sector.

After two years, 2012 and 2013, in which this indicator remained just above 840,000 headings, the volume exceeded 1.2 million in 2014, 1.5 in 2017, and 1.6 in 2019.

With the outbreak of the pandemic, the number of contracts fluctuated between 1.4 million contracts in the last two years, to fall to the current 1.2 million signatures.

By region, Andalusia is, by far, the Community with the highest volume of contracting in agriculture, with 666,309 signatures, which represents 53.4% ​​of the total signed throughout the country during the first semester.

It is followed, at a distance, by the Region of Murcia (198,263), Extremadura (95,550), the Valencian Community (89,501) and Castilla-La Mancha (62,895), while with more moderate figures are Catalonia (29,494), Aragón (28,256 ), Castilla y León (19,772), La Rioja (12,854) and Galicia (12,716).

Below 10,000 signatures are Navarra (9,488), the Canary Islands (7,766), Euskadi (5,961), the Community of Madrid (4,752), the Balearic Islands (1,961), Asturias (1,625) and Cantabria (1,157).

At the provincial level, those with the highest volumes were Huelva (158,723), Jaén (130,154), Córdoba (102,577), Seville (97,917), Badajoz (74,178), Granada (71,566) and Valencia (55,607).

Regarding variations with respect to the first half of 2021, the study highlights that the Canary Islands (14.3%) and the Basque Country (3%) were the only regions to experience growth in their contracting volumes in the agricultural sector.

Already registering falls, although moderate, are the Balearic Islands (-3%), Asturias (-3.6%), Navarra (-3.9%), La Rioja (4%), Galicia (-6.2%) and Castila and León (-7.3%), while the most pronounced decreases, although still below the national average (-14.5%), occurred in the Community of Madrid (10%), the Valencian Community ( 11.1%), Andalusia (-11.4%), Castilla-La Mancha (-13.6%) and Catalonia (-14.2%).

For its part, the greatest decreases took place in Extremadura (-16.1%), Cantabria (-19.7%), Aragón (-25.4%) and the Region of Murcia (-26%).

On the other hand, the report shows that half of the contracts were signed by workers between 25 and 45 years old, while by sex, 73% of the signatures correspond to men and only 27% to women.

Regarding the age of contract signatories in this sector during the summer, nearly half (49.1%) are between 25 and 45 years old, followed by those over 45 (36.8%) and those under of 25 (14.1%).

The greatest drop in hiring occurred in the segment of professionals aged between 25 and 45 years, while the decrease was 12% between those over 45 and those under 25.