The Spanish government approves a job offer of 27,232 positions with a focus on AI

MadridThe Spanish government approved a new call for public jobs this Tuesday. Specifically, the Council of Ministers has approved 27,232 public positions for 2026, as explained by the Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López, at a press conference. The call, however, comes without the endorsement of the majority unions in the public service, who have denounced the lack of negotiation. All in all, this is a smaller call than that of 2025 (36,588 public positions in the State).

The Spanish government has decided to reserve a portion of the positions (346 positions that will be called extraordinarily) to strengthen those areas of the State administration that are activated in the face of a climate emergency (meteorologists, forest engineers, and environmental agents). At the same time, the offer includes 1,700 positions for information technology specialists. In fact, for the first time, entrance exams will be held for specialties in the Higher Corps of Information Systems and Technologies (ICT) with the aim of "recruiting specialists in artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, and data science". These areas have become a challenge for the public and private sectors. "The great priority is digitalization and the use of AI in public administration," López reiterated. The Minister for Public Function already pointed out this Monday that the 2026 call will be "an example of how to transform jobs in public administration, have experts in artificial intelligence (AI) and at the same time not destroy jobs".

To recap, the public offer approved this Tuesday corresponding to 2026 represents the approval of a total of 27,232 public positions (346 are part of the extraordinary offer for climate emergencies). Without taking into account the positions for the climate crisis, the offer is reduced to 26,886 new positions (20,541 are open access, while 6,345 positions are for internal promotion). 

Defense and infrastructure

Beyond environmental positions or those focused on the digitalization of the general administration of the State, the Spanish government also wants to strengthen defense and infrastructure areas. Thus, for example, 1,589 civilian positions will be launched, dependent on the Ministries of the Interior and Defense, to reinforce "public security" and "defense capabilities." Also noteworthy are 601 positions assigned to the Ministry of Transport for infrastructure improvement, as well as 400 positions in the Ministry of Economy to strengthen commercial strategy.

The public employment offer in the State has reached the Council of Ministers after various negotiations between the government and the most representative unions in the negotiation table of the general administration of the State (CSIF, UGT, CCOO, CIG, and ELA). In fact, the unions have denounced that they do not know the figures of the offer and have complained about the ministry's lack of transparency. Thus, the proposal does not have their endorsement. "We do not have concrete data," have pointed out from UGT, and they also denounce that "the 9,000 labor positions from previous offers have not yet been convened." In a statement, the general administration of the State sector of FSC-CCOO has stated that "there has been no political will" to negotiate the offer, despite holding "three meetings in which no documentation or information has been provided to prove the creation of net employment".

As is customary, regarding territorial distribution in the State, it will be known in detail in each of the calls that are opened, as well as an indicative forecast of the specific provinces where the positions will be offered. Last year, the offer also did not have the support of the unions, who stated that it was insufficient to cover the needs of public administration.