The advance of the services sector, “in danger” due to the rise in the SMI and the low productivity of the islands
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The BBVA Regional Observatory highlights the problem of the low productivity suffered by some Spanish regions, including the Canary Islands, and the consequences that this may have for some sectors, such as services, by increasing the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI).
«The stagnation of productivity in an environment of increasing labor costs “can jeopardize the progress of the service sector,” It is noted in the Observatory, where it is indicated that Social Security contributions have added pressure to the payroll of companies.
As the document states, the increases in the SMI mean that in some sectors, companies and regions, the proportion of workers whose income is linked to this minimum wage begins to be relatively high. The Canary Islands is one of them, since the SMI exceeds 60% of the average salary.
The situation, warns the BBVA research service, may be more problematic in regions that have vacancy problems.
Since 2008, the Employment Observatory points out, the average annual growth in labor productivity has been close to zero and has even fallen in regions where it was already relatively low, which has prevented progress in the convergence process between autonomous communities. While the Basque Country, Madrid and Navarra have growth above average, the Canary Islands remain the second region with the worst productivity, only surpassed by Extremadura.
Absenteeism in the archipelago
Linked to low productivity is absenteeism, where the Canary Islands continue to register very high rates. A recent study by the IVIE and collected by CANARIAS7 points out that 61,000 Canaries did not go to work a single day in 2023. The rate of absence from work in the islands is 409 per 1,000 workers. In this sense, the Executive Committee of the CEOE, meeting this week, expressed its concern about this situation yesterday.
According to them, about an increase of 8% in general terms, in some institutions The increase is double digits. The employers’ association advocated “implementing effective strategies to reduce absenteeism and improve productivity in work environments, through social dialogue and requesting from the Government of the Canary Islands a roadmap and strategy agreed upon with social agents.”
Businessmen also expressed their concern about the paralysis of the general budgets of the State.
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