In Spain there is a serious deficit of qualified labor in the construction sector. A phrase, 17 words, with a good handful of nuance that still enclose the consequences of the 2008 crisis: an important change of labor mentality in the new generations and the so -called demographic winter, that is, an increasingly aging population and in need of foreign labor. «Right now, to fulfill the commitments acquired as a country, in Spain there are about 700,000 workers in the sector,» says Pedro Fernández Alén, president of the National Confederation of Construction (CNC). With them, says Fernández Alén, not only could the dynamism of the sector be increased, but it could also “face generally more solvent problems such as housing in Spain,” says Daniel Barragán, general secretary of Habitat workers commissions, he rushes to clarify. “I've been listening to the same figure for four years. Each quarter, when the employment data of the sector is giving, there are more and more workers. However, the figure that the employer never goes down, ”he says. According to the Survey of the supplies of the supply and demand made by the Observatory of the occupations of the SEPE, among the 20 with the greatest mismatches are seven related to this sector, highlighting masons, construction electricians and plumbers. The observatory asked experts about the causes of these mismatches and the predominant response was the lack of candidates. However, from the observatory it is pointed out that “the data tell us that there are enough stops that could be hired, which could we suspect that the second cause expressed by the experts could be the most important: lack of technical skills- professionals ”. According to these data, in December 2024 there were more than 49,700 masons of employment plaintiffs and some more than 11,800 were hired. More information Barragán admits a certain deficit of workers, mainly due to the rebound of activity promoted by European funds, but expresses their doubts, especially Regarding the qualified coletilla. “Especially when what is being hired are second pawns and officers. What makes us think that these people are being used as pawns and second -qualification officers for greater qualification work, perhaps with a lower category due to obvious issues of paying less, ”he warns.
Without young people, or women
Labor scarcity is affecting multiple segments, which contemplate how they lose attractiveness for young talent. “The factors are multiple, but without a doubt the demographic crisis is the most relevant; There are half the young population today that 30 years ago and with a much broader universe of professional alternatives. To this is added the bad reputation of the sector, which does not stimulate generation There is barely quarry; Children under 30 do not reach 10%. From the FP Observatory, it is essential to promote the most specialized training, whose registration is being reduced in recent years and that, in addition, suffers an evident gender bias: women represent only 11%, although they are better formed. It is also necessary «a greater impulse of professional certificates, which facilitate a continuous and stable contribution of new professionals,» says Javier González, director of Training and Employment of the Construction Labor Foundation. The sector also focuses on the update of the curricula. «More training in new technologies, energy efficiency and digitalization is needed,» says Molinero. It is also obvious that the real estate crisis caused a strong reputational crisis and the perception of hardness and physical demand has moved away young people. The employer admits that they must work their image but also take chest for the effort in improving conditions. “We have carried out historical milestones such as the VII General Agreement, which includes the first sector employment pension plan; The incorporation of the Royal Decree that regulates work under extreme temperatures and other salary improvements agreed in 2022 ″, says Fernández Alén. «If you want to make the sector interesting, the first thing is to act in the causes of accident rate in a much more intense way ”Says Barragán, who also points out the need to build long -term professional careers. “It is a sector that has taken steps forward but still needs to improve the conditions, both economic and social. What cannot be is that a little more than putting coffee in a bar is won, because, of course, people prefer to put coffees, which at least do not play life, ”says Barragán.
Difficult occupations to cover
In 2023, the Government first included several technical tasks of the construction sector in the catalog of difficult coverage occupations that allow companies to hire foreign professionals more agile. Something that the employer considered positive, but that the unions see with reluctance since they bet in the first place for the recalification of unemployed people. In 2025, when from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations it is committed to further expanding that catalog
—The criteria of the Ministry of Labor, there are no updated data of the vacancies covered. «We are still with too many administrative barriers, with long and complex bureaucratic processes that delay that effective incorporation,» says José Ignacio Esteban, general director of Ávita, industrialized construction division of the Avintia Group.