For the first time in history, Spanish companies pay more than 3,000 euros per month on average for each worker as a result of the sharp rise in contributions. The cost of labor does not stop rising and has now risen for ten consecutive quarters after having risen by 5.8% in the second quarter of the year, according to data published this Friday by the INE.
Most of this cost corresponds to the workers’ salaries, which also add up to ten consecutive quarters of increases. Specifically, the salary cost increased by 5%, due to the 8% increase in the minimum wage this year and the 3.3% increase agreed in the collective agreements for this year. It thus rose to 2,262 euros gross per month, the highest figure in a second quarter since the beginning of the series, in 2000.
It means that the salary cost has increased by more than 310 euros per month in the last twelve months, a concept that includes both the base salary, supplements and all types of payments, whether extraordinary, late or for overtime. The highest salary growth in the last year was recorded in administrative activities (+7.8%), hospitality (+7.7%) and transport and storage (+7.2%), while electricity and gas supply and water and waste supply cut their salaries by 7.4% and 2.1%, respectively.
More than 148,000 vacancies
But other costs (non-salary costs) rose more, growing by 8% in the second quarter. Its main component, mandatory Social Security contributions, increased by 7.8%, due to the strong increase in these contributions: 8% for minimum contributions, 8.5% for maximum contributions and the new fee for the intergenerational equity mechanism, aimed at filling the pension pot for the retirement of the ‘baby boom’.
The INE highlights, on the other hand, the increase in severance payments.
This statistic, furthermore, is the only one that officially collects the number of vacancies in Spanish companies, an issue that is currently facing complaints from employers to fill certain positions, mainly in construction and hospitality. However, the INE highlights that 93.5% of companies claim to have no vacancies because “they do not need additional workers.” In total, there were 148,091 job vacancies in Spain in the second quarter of 2023, 1,554 less than the previous quarter, when the highest figure in the series was recorded. Despite being a relatively low number, it has doubled in just six years.