Spain labor study: 23.4% of low-skilled workers start with temporary contracts

A study titled ‘The Value of Temporary Contracting in Spain’, conducted for Asempleo using data from the National Statistics Institute (INE), reveals that 23.4% of workers with low educational levels begin their employment with temporary contracts. This is significantly higher than the 14% rate observed among university graduates.

Education levels also correlate strongly with unemployment rates. Approximately 21.8% of individuals with primary education or less are unemployed, compared to 12% of those with secondary education and 6.2% of those with higher education degrees.

Andreu Cruañas, president of Asempleo, stated that temporary employment is a “structural part” of the labor market rather than an anomaly, serving as an entry point for groups that face greater difficulties integrating into the workforce. The study also noted that the gap in overqualification between temporary and permanent contracts, which was significant in the mid-2000s, has effectively disappeared as of 2023.