Most family businesses plan to maintain their current workforces
These companies approve of the economic situation and see absenteeism as the main problem for competitiveness.
BurgosFamily businesses view the economic situation with some optimism, giving it a score of 5.66 on a scale of 0 to 9, higher than they estimated a year ago. Nearly half expect moderate economic growth and limited net job creation, at 48%; although another 47% believe growth will be fragile without net job creation. 52% estimate they will maintain their current workforce.
These are the results of the interactive survey conducted during the first session of the 28th National Congress of Family Businesses, being held in Burgos. Participants believe that absenteeism is the main problem for competitiveness, followed by the difficulty in finding qualified labor and regulatory changes, according to the survey results.
In the same survey, 61% of participants expect their sales to increase, and 32% think they will be similar to last year's. Only 7% expect a decline. In addition to those who plan to maintain their current workforce, which is the majority, 39% expect to increase it and only 9% reserve the possibility of reducing it.
This first session features King Felipe VI and Jorge Hereu, the Minister of Industry, representing the Spanish government, as well as Ignacio Rivera, president of the Family Business Institute (IEF), the organizer of this annual meeting. The IEF is a lobby founded in Barcelona in 1992 that brings together around 100 of the main companies controlled by relatives.
The interactive survey is conducted each time one of these conferences is held. Last year, the business owners and executives who participated in Santander improved their assessment of the economic situation, with 5.55 points on a scale of 0 to 9, 0.52 points more than in 2023.
But, even so, it's still far from the 2017 peak, with a rating of 6.2. The minimum score was reached in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, with 4.1 points. Then the grade given by family businesses began to rise.
On Sunday, the president of the Family Business of Castilla y León, Isidoro J. Alanís, used his welcome speech to call for a "more agile" administration. He also highlighted absenteeism as one of the main problems for businesses. "We must end absenteeism, which is false," he said. He also denounced the difficulties in finding talent for companies.
