Spain was the second country in the world (after the USSR) to legislate an eight-hour workday. This was in 1919, as a result of the La Canadiense strike. This objective had been a constant of the labor movement throughout the 19th century, since the Industrial Revolution typically saw much longer working days. Since then, the working day has been reduced by eliminating one day of the week (from 48 hours a week to 40) and introducing paid vacations (typically four weeks a year). However, workers' standard of living has risen prodigiously, taxes have risen even more rapidly—which has allowed for the financing of a generous welfare state—social contributions have allowed pensioners to survive their increasingly long retirements, all while investors have not stopped collecting their often equally generous profits.
This magnificent result has been fundamentally the result of a prodigious improvement in productivity, that is, the relationship between the value of production and the effort required to obtain it.
However, we now find ourselves in a very different situation. Productivity improvements have been slowing down for at least 50 years (no matter how much we marvel at the wonders of computing) and, in terms of demographics, the financing of the pension system has entered into crisis as the older generation has begun to retire. baby boomers, who had very few children but who reach retirement age with a very long life expectancy.
All of this leads to an inexorable conclusion: now is the time to work more. And more than anywhere else in Spain, because while productivity has slowed throughout the West, it has stagnated in Spain, and while fertility has fallen worldwide, it has fallen in Spain almost more than anywhere else. The first fact makes it impossible to increase wages across the board; the second makes it impossible to maintain the current pension system.
Now, it's time to work more, but not for less, but for more. In other words, what would be in our best interest is for wages to rise so they can withstand higher taxes and social security contributions, which requires increased productivity.
Increasing the productivity of our economy to the levels of those of our predecessors is neither impossible nor mysterious; it's essentially a matter of doing the same thing they do. However, it's neither easy nor quick (contrary to what many believe, it would be easier and faster in the tourism sector than in the industrial sector, but going into this topic in depth is beyond the scope of a newspaper article).
As it is neither easy nor quick, the OECD does not devote much attention to the report it has just dedicated to the employment situation in Spain ("OECD Employment Outlook 2025: Spain"). Instead, it does suggest that we work harder: that we increase the number of women in the labor market, that we activate more workers of retirement age, and that we promote regular immigration. Of these three proposals, the first is trivial, the second is correct, and the third is wrong. Let's see why.
Women's participation in the Spanish labor market (not in Catalonia) is still relatively low compared to Europe, but it is increasing as young women replace their mothers. There is little that is needed, nor can much be done, to accelerate the process.
Regarding the second proposal, the average health of Spaniards between the ages of 65 and early 70 allows them to work longer, so it is opportune that we have raised the minimum retirement age and that measures are being introduced to voluntarily extend working life. In this context, the Spanish government's proposal to reduce the working week to 37.5 hours is a mistake: it is a step in the wrong direction.
As for the proposal to further boost immigration, it's a very popular but misguided idea. Over the course of their life, a low-skilled person—immigrant or native-born—contributes less in taxes and social security contributions than they receive in public services. Consequently, most of the immigration we have received in recent decades, and most of what we may receive in the future, will not only fail to fund future pensions, but will actually make it even more difficult.
In short: we need to work harder and better, and the widespread idea that we can get others to work for us is no solution.
