Successive regulatory changes make more than 5,400 companies disappear

Aragón loses companies. The latest data indicates that in this community there have been A total of 6,729 companies have disappeared in recent years. A loss that has been especially significant in the last yearthat is, in 2023, since in this period 5,423 companies have ceased to exist.

With these losses, The business census has gone from 90,682 companies in the last three years to 83,953 at the end of 2023. But the most striking thing is the concentration of closures in SMEs and micro-SMEs, which are the ones with the most mortality. A situation that is explained by the difficult situation that small and medium-sized companies are going through and that, in addition, is being seen increased by continuous regulatory changes of the Government of Spain, as explained today by Cepyme Aragón.

The data also reflects that the majority of companies lost in the last year, 96.3% did not have employees, that is, they were autonomous. And this figure is of particular concern to the Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises, since the Aragonese business fabric is made up of 99.1% micro-SMEs and small businesses with less than 50 workers.

Specifically, 51% of companies in Aragon do not have employees, but they play an important role in the territory. A reason why “We ask the Government to be brave and take us into account when legislating,” said María Jesús Lorente, president of Cepyme Aragón. “SMEs play a vital role in the economy and it is important that they help us grow,” she added.

The successive regulatory changes and the current uncertainty are two factors that are causing companies, especially SMEs and the self-employed, to delay hiring and investment decisions over time, affecting job creation.

And this situation for companies is expected to continue, at least for the moment, because the year 2024 has begun with new costs for companies, conditioning their activity. Among them, for example, is the increase in social contributions, the increase in contributions for common contingencies, the increase in the maximum contribution base, the 2023 salary review, the 2024 salary increase and the general increase in costs.

29% of companies still record losses, which is 4.4 points above pre-pandemic data

Furthermore, Cepyme Aragón has denounced that the approved measures do not take all parties into account, which contributes to undermining the competitiveness of the business fabric. Added to these factors is the implementation of measures and regulatory reforms in labor matters that directly affect business profitability and, especially, specific sectors such as agriculture.

In this sense, the vice president of Cepyme Aragón and president of the FEMZ, Benito Tesier, has indicated that “productivity is a fundamental parameter to measure the health of an economy”, in addition to pointing out that in Spain there has been a drop of 7 .3% so far this century. A figure with which the country distances itself from other states in which improvements have occurred, such as the United States, with an increase of 15.5%, Germany with 11.8%, the United Kingdom with 8, 8% and France with 0.8%.

The situation is also not favorable for companies that maintain contracts with the administrations and that are obliged to comply with their validity, which leads to low profit margins or work at a loss.

It is a particularly worrying context because 29% of companies still record losseswhich is 4.4 points more than before the pandemic according to data from the Bank of Spain recently released and corresponding to the first half of 2023.

Companies on alert for the new measures

Companies also view with concern the proposal announced by the central government to reduce the working day to 38.5 hours in 2024 and 37.5 hours in 2025. For Cepyme Aragón, this measure is “a hidden increase in the SMI because it means working “fewer hours for the same salary, that is, earning more.”

Productivity in Spain has fallen more than 7%

However, for companies it means an increase in costs. According to the calculations of the business organization, Reducing the working day from 40 to 37.5 hours per week would lead to an increase in labor cost/hour in a percentage equivalent to 6.25%.

“Coffee is not suitable for everyone, the size of the company, the activity in which it is dedicated and the population in which it is established must be taken into account. Economic policy should be guided by prudence and adopt measures when necessary. certainty about its effects, both positive and negative,” indicated Lorente, who emphasizes that these issues must be addressed within the framework of collective bargaining in each sector or in agreements between company and worker to adapt the rhythms of activity.

For his part, Tesier has stressed that “in a scenario in which employees work fewer hours while being equally productive, their production will fall in the same proportion as the number of hours they work decreases, which would cause a drop in GDP”. Furthermore, he added that “we must be careful not to destroy the virtuous circle that companies need to generate wealth.”

Support for Teruel companies

The representatives of CEPYME Teruel have once again demanded that the Government of Spain modification of the scope of operating aid so that it applies to both newly created and existing companies; as well as including the self-employed. “Currently the aid does not reach 25 million euros in all of Spain, of which only 8 reach Teruel,” María Jesús Lorente criticized.