Affiliates in Catalonia surpassed the 4 million mark for the first time. Specifically, according to data released this Thursday by the Ministry of Social Security, 4.01 million Catalans were registered as employed in June. Thus, compared to May, there are 37,053 more affiliates in the country, which is equivalent to an increase of 0.93%. The boost from the start of the summer campaign has thus driven the Catalan labor market to a new record; until now, it had been above 3.9 million workers for two months. Looking at the data from a year ago, the year-on-year change is also positive, at 2.63%, which translates to 102,763 more workers.

1,882 days, equivalent to five years and two months. This is the time a Catalan worker will have to wait before the trial for their dismissal begins. And it is not an isolated case: according to a report prepared by the UGT of Catalonia, among all dismissal cases that exceed six months of waiting – a time that the union considers "acceptable" for proceedings to begin – they are, on average, extended by 574 days, that is, one year and seven months. With the data from the study – which collects 1,499 cases – the UGT has denounced the delay that workers suffer once they initiate a lawsuit.

The Volkswagen Group foresees more layoffs. If last March the company announced that it would cut around 50,000 jobs in Germany, the German media Manager Magazin reported this Friday that the group plans to reduce 100,000 workers worldwide in the next five years. In addition, the group also has in mind closing up to four plants in the Germanic country – Hannover, Zwickau, Emden, and Neckarsulm – and reducing its investments by 15%, to approximately 130 billion euros. Currently, Volkswagen's workforce is around 625,000 employees. Thus, if the staff reduction goes ahead, it could affect one in six employees of the Wolfsburg company.

Access to housing is one of the main concerns of citizens, and its high prices translate into a strong impact on pockets. According to the Household Budget Survey of the National Statistics Institute (INE), housing-related expenses were those that grew the most during the past year (+5.8%), and already represent 33.2% of families' budgets.

Ebro presented this Monday morning its new production line at the Zona Franca plant. With the so-called M1, which has been operational since the beginning of the year, the company can triple its previous production: while the M0 – shorter and with fewer processes – allows manufacturing 6 cars per hour, the new line will be able to manufacture up to 20 vehicles in the same time. However, for now, its productivity will not be exploited at 100% and, as explained by the president of Ebro EV Motors, Rafael Ruiz, it will be expanded as demand increases. Specifically, currently, on the M1 – where models s400 and s700 are produced – only one shift is working, while on the M0 – where s800 and s900 are made – two shifts are working. If the new line were open 24 hours – which would be equivalent to three shifts – it would be capable of producing up to 130,000 vehicles per year.

“Industry must reach 25% of GDP". It has been more than a decade since different Catalan executives have set out to boost the country's industrial sector again. The data, however, indicate that far from achieving the expected growth, the weight of industry in our economy is stagnant: since the beginning of the great crisis of 2008, its contribution has remained around 17% of the total. The last major effort, in fact, was staged this past week. On Monday, Salvador Illa and Miquel Sàmper, along with employers' associations and unions, sealed the new National Pact for Industry (PNI), which foresees investing a minimum of 4,463 million euros in the sector in the next four years.

The Catalan paper group Miquel y Costas presented this Thursday its new investment plan worth 130 million euros until 2029. Specifically, as the industrial company has detailed, over the next three years it will allocate up to 47 million euros to technological improvements in the production process. The group also plans to allocate 33 million to infrastructure, 30 million to sustainability, and 20 million to automation and digitization of processes. Among all the planned investments, the opening of two biomass plants in Catalonia stands out.

The Catalan company Parlem Telecom is resorting to a restructuring expert to facilitate negotiations with its creditors. As the company communicated this Wednesday to BME Growth (the SME stock exchange), the move comes after, in separate proceedings, both the company itself and several creditors requested the Barcelona Court of First Instance, Commercial Section, to appoint an independent figure to find a way to deal with existing short-term debts. The firm tasked with carrying out the work, as designated by the court, will be AGM Administracions Concursals i Reestructuracions, which had been proposed by the company, not by the creditors, who preferred another agent. Sources close to the Catalan company have welcomed the fact that the third parties' proposal has been rejected.

“More industry, but, above all, of better quality”: Salvador Illa and the country's main economic agents have sealed this Monday the new National Pact for Industry. The roadmap until 2030 foresees an investment of almost 4,500 million euros in 190 actions comprised in five major areas, such as innovation or employment. During his speech, the President of the Generalitat emphasized that the agreement "is not a sectoral pact" but a "national and future pact". The text has been agreed with the two main employers' associations in the territory, Foment del Treball and Pimec, and the two majority trade unions, Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and UGT. The objective: that by 2030 industry represents 25% of Catalonia's gross domestic product (GDP), the macroeconomic indicator that measures the monetary value of all final goods and services produced within a territory.

The automotive industry is one of the main industries in our country. In recent years, however, the sector has undergone very significant changes, and has transformed. Electrification and the emergence of Chinese cars have revolutionized the vehicle market, and manufacturers are having to adapt at breakneck speed. We talk about it with Josep Maria Vall (Barcelona, 1947), president of the Cluster of the Automotive Industry of Catalonia (CIAC).

The Basque group Aernnova has sold one of the two company branches of Serra Soldadura at auction, the Barcelona industrial company it has owned since 2008 and for which it has filed for voluntary liquidation. According to the works councils of Serra Soldadura, the sale will only serve to safeguard 10 of the 190 jobs the company has.

This Wednesday, line 1 of workshop 10 at the Seat factory in Martorell has begun the series assembly of the Cupra Raval and the Volkswagen ID Polo, the first 100% electric cars produced at the plant. The launch of production materializes the great efforts the factory has made to electrify: 300 million euros have been invested in the Catalan plant to set up a battery assembly factory, and, furthermore, one of the three production lines has also been adapted to be able to manufacture electric vehicles. In recent years, no 100% electric vehicles were manufactured in Catalonia, although one was produced until the Nissan plant in the Zona Franca of Barcelona closed, the Nissan e-NV200 van.

Ficosa's management and unions seal a preliminary agreement to reduce the impact of the redundancy plan (ERO) announced a few weeks ago. The pact – which must be ratified this Friday by the workers – reduces the number of affected people compared to initial forecasts at the historic Viladecavalls plant: while the company initially planned to lay off 172 people, it has finally been agreed to reduce layoffs to 105. In addition, voluntary departures will be prioritized, so once the workforce accepts the conditions, interested workers will have two weeks to decide if they wish to join.

There has long been talk in the Blaugrana news about the launch of Barça Mobile. The project, which Joan Laporta defined as a "gold mine" during its presentation, had been stalled for months and, as ARA already explained, even its suppliers were wondering why they were waiting so long to launch it. After more than a year of work, however, the operator began to be marketed a few days before the elections to Barça. However, the launch has been marked by the silence of the club and New Era Visionary Group Iberia —the company in charge of carrying out the project—, who have not wanted to make much noise nor have they started any commercial campaign.

Employment in Catalonia breaks a new record, reaching 4 million. Specifically, according to data released this Tuesday by the Ministry of Social Security, 3.97 million Catalans were registered as affiliates to the organization in May, representing an increase of 1.28% compared to April. This is the second consecutive month that the Catalan labor market has broken the record for active employees. Furthermore, compared to May of last year, 89,882 jobs have been created in Catalonia, placing the figure 2.32% higher year-on-year.

The company Guala Closures—specializing in the manufacture of bottle caps— has notified its staff of its intention to file for a collective redundancy procedure (ERO) at its plant located in Olèrdola (Alt Penedès). According to union sources, the company plans to lay off 82 of the 87 employees working at the center.

Labour absenteeism has become in recent times one of the main battlehorses for the Catalan business fabric. People who miss work – both for justified and unjustified reasons – are at historic highs, up to 7.4% across the Spanish territory, according to a report by the Valencian Institute of Economic Research (IVIE). However, this figure has been driven by a large increase in absences: temporary incapacities are already the cause of almost 80% of effective non-worked hours and the absenteeism rate for this reason stands at 5.8%.

A report by the Council for Work, Economy and Social Affairs of Catalonia (CTESC) delves into the role of newcomers in the country's economic fabric and focuses on the significant differences they have compared to nationals regarding occupational conditions. A clear example of this inequality is found in salaries: according to the study, the gross annual salary of foreigners is 22.3% lower than that of Spanish nationals. This difference currently translates into an average of 6,891.64 euros less gross per year.

When contracting a mortgage, interested parties pay banks certain provisions that are used to pay taxes, fees, and registrations. It is normal for the bank to temporarily hold the corresponding amount and for, later, an agency to handle all the required bureaucracy. However, in this context, a situation has come to light that would have left an as-yet-unspecified number of users unprotected. This is the case of the Tecnotramit agency.

Ficosa workers begin an indefinite strike in protest of the dismissals planned by the company. This Thursday, union representatives and the company met to renegotiate the impacts, and the number of dismissals was reduced from the initial 172 to 113. Specifically, the reduction was made through two channels: on one hand, the automotive components company agreed to transform the impacts in the engineering department into an ERTO (Temporary Employment Regulation File) of 18 months for 38 workers. And, on the other hand, of the 125 dismissals planned for the production plant, the figure has been reduced to 113.