The Generalitat has published the 2027 labor calendar, marked by Christmas and May 1st falling on a Saturday, as the Catalan executive reported this Wednesday in a statement. In total there will be 12 holidays in addition to Sundays.

In April 2022, the major labor reform by Yolanda Díaz came into effect. The Minister of Labor promised that the new measures would foster a profound transformation of the Spanish labor market and combat one of its endemic problems: high temporality. Four years later, however, can we say that the initiative has achieved its main objective? According to Jordi Garcia, professor of Labor Law and Social Security at the University of Barcelona, no. "Or at least that's what it seems with the little data they provide," he assures. Different reports, such as one published a few weeks ago by the liberal think tank Fundación Civismo, agree with the expert and say that the changes have been, truly, "statistical".

Social Security affiliation continued to grow in February in both Catalonia and Spain, although, in parallel, unemployment rose again for the third consecutive month. However, the number of unemployed last month was lower than the figures recorded a year ago, according to employment data published this Tuesday by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The same pattern was repeated in Spain, with the total number of unemployed workers increasing, but with figures lower than those of February 2015. Specifically, at the end of February in Catalonia there were 327,253 workers seeking employment, 2,039 more than a year ago. in JanuaryUnemployment in Catalonia rose by 0.63%, according to data published Tuesday by the Ministry of Labor. This marks the third consecutive month of rising unemployment in the Catalan labor market, which reached its lowest level since 2008 (when the financial crisis and housing bubble burst) in June, with just over 315,000 unemployed. Despite these three months of increases, the unemployment figures remained 2.11% below the levels of February of last year, when there were 7,088 more unemployed than last month. Nationwide, unemployment also increased, rising by 3,584 people (0.15%) compared to January, reaching 2,442,646 unemployed. As in the case of Catalonia, despite the increase, unemployment remained below the levels of a year earlier, and in the last 12 months it fell by 150,803 people, a 5.84% decrease. By autonomous community, only Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha experienced a greater increase in unemployment in absolute numbers than Catalonia. By region, the bulk of job losses were concentrated in Barcelona, ​​the most populated, where unemployment increased by just over 2,000 people, while in Lleida and Tarragona the increases were 130 and 17 more unemployed, respectively. Girona, on the other hand, ended February with an average of 126 fewer unemployed than the previous month.

Alongside the C-65, the road that connects Girona with the Costa Brava, stands the headquarters of the largest Spanish-owned resource company in Spain. Every day, it hires a total of 27,000 people from seven countries; 91,000 annually. And it does so from the industrial park in a cork-producing town, with no intention of abandoning its 35-year history. This is Eurofirms, which, with a turnover exceeding €700 million in 2025 and a 13% growth rate, holds the third-largest market share in the sector nationwide. But that's not enough for them.

New job cuts in the Catalan pharmaceutical sector. Roche Diagnostics, a division of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, has filed for a workforce reduction plan (ERE) that would affect up to 50 people at its facilities in Sant Cugat del Vallès, the company's headquarters. According to information obtained by ARA, the pharmaceutical company filed the ERE with the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy, and not with the Catalan Government's Department of Labor. Roche Diagnostics develops and supplies technological tools for monitoring research results, administering therapies, and enabling patients to self-monitor their diabetes—glucometers for diabetic patients are one example. The Sant Cugat campus also houses one of the Swiss group's main innovation and development centers. Roche has three divisions in Spain: Diagnostics, in Sant Cugat; Pharma, in Madrid; and Informatics Madrid, also in the Spanish capital. Sources within the company have explained to this newspaper that the terms of the workforce reduction plan have been agreed upon with the works council, and that the expected impact is 3% of Roche Diagnostics' workforce in Spain. "We periodically review our structure and processes to ensure that we remain competitive, efficient, and can respond appropriately to market challenges and opportunities," these sources added. This workforce adjustment is not the first carried out by Roche Diagnostics. Two years ago, in 2024, it also implemented a workforce reduction plan affecting the same number of people, which the independent verification report of the non-financial information statement justified by the planned merger of Roche Diagnostics and Roche Diabetes Care Spain. The restructuring plan for this merger initiated a process that was expected to last until December 2025.

The severe windstorm that has been battering Catalonia this Thursday has led to the suspension of educational and university activities, as well as a recommendation from the Catalan government to take extreme precautions, avoid non-essential travel, and opt for teleworking. This scenario, in which an authority issues recommendations, limitations, or prohibitions on mobility, creates rights and obligations for workers—such as having paid leave or working remotely when possible—and also for companies—paying for this leave or facilitating teleworking. All of this is covered in Article 37.3.g) of the Workers' Statute, which states that employees "may be absent" from work for up to four days "with the right to remuneration" if they are unable to attend their workplace due to the authorities' directives regarding the weather. However, this right generates an economic cost that raises the following question: who should bear it?

The Spanish labor market is experiencing a period of sustained expansion: employment has reached record highs and the unemployment rate has hit its lowest level in 18 years, according to the latest data from the Active Population Survey (EPA). However, this growth is not solely attributable to market dynamics. Policies that have activated previously untapped talent also play a role. In this context, job placement emerges as a key element. For years, initiatives like Incorpora have demonstrated that personalized support and intermediation with companies can transform career paths after a significant life change.

The Ministry of Labor and the UGT and CCOO unions, but not the employers' associations, have agreed this Thursday to raise the minimum interprofessional wage (SMI). 1,221 euros gross in 14 paymentsThis represents a 3.1% increase compared to 2025. It's a rise of 37 euros per month, as announced by the Secretary of State for Labor, Joaquín Pérez Rey. The Council of Ministers will soon approve the salary increase, which will be retroactive to January 1st of this year. The employers' associations CEOE and Cepyme have distanced themselves from the agreement and rejected the increase, as anticipated in the statement released Thursday morning, in which they labeled the tax deduction in corporate income tax for the companies most affected by the pay increase as "deceptive" and "interventionist." According to the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Labor and the unions agree that this salary level will remain exempt from personal income tax.

Amazon has announced a new wave of layoffs that will affect 16,000 people worldwide, none of them in Spain. This is the second major restructuring by the e-commerce and cloud computing giant in the last three months, following the one in January. will announce the departure of 18,000 peopleOf these, 791 were in the corporate offices in Barcelona. The company attributes this second wave to the restructuring process following the era of overhiring resulting from the pandemic.

Employment in Catalonia and Spain continued to grow in the last three months of 2025, reaching record highs. This led to the unemployment rate falling to its lowest level in almost two decades in Spain, below the 10% mark, according to data from the Labor Force Survey (EPA) published this Tuesday by the National Statistics Institute (INE). In Catalonia, however, the unemployment rate rose slightly. Thus, the unemployment rate in Catalonia was 8.24% in the fourth quarter of 2025, six hundredths of a percentage point higher than... the 8.18% recorded in the previous quarterHowever, the increase in the unemployment rate occurred despite a reduction of approximately 900 people in the total number of unemployed workers over the quarter, which stood at 351,200. This is because, proportionally, the number of unemployed decreased at a slower pace than the total number of people (employed or unemployed) active in the labor market, which fell from 4.3 million to 4.26 million between the third and last quarters of last year. As for the total number of employed people—that is, workers with jobs—in Catalonia, this figure fell by approximately 37,400 to 3,913,200.

The Ministry of Labor has offered social partners compensation for companies most affected by the minimum wage increase, but this is conditional on an increase in the lowest wages and maintaining current staffing levels. The ministry, headed by Yolanda Díaz, proposes a 3.1% increase in the minimum wage in 2021, to €1,221 per month (paid in fourteen installments), exempt from income tax. This was announced by the Secretary of State for Labor, Joaquín Pérez Rey, in a press conference following a nearly three-hour meeting with social partners. The Deputy Minister of Labor clarified that this compensation is not "a gift." urbi et orbi"To all companies, even those that are not affected by the minimum wage. Pérez Rey has not gone into detail about what this compensation would consist of "with respect" to the work that the Treasury is doing, since its design is still being defined, but he has admitted that one of the possibilities is to introduce a tax deduction in the corporate tax.

Exceptional growth in wages for entry-level workers over the past year, especially those working in small businesses, has resulted in this group gaining purchasing power compared to 2007: while accumulated inflation over the last 19 years is 43.5%, the wages of entry-level workers have increased by 45.89%, to 28.

The "ironclad" financial discipline that Telefónica's president, Marc Murtra, announced at the last quarterly results press conference has finally come to an end for the company's workforce almost a month and a half later. This Monday, the telecommunications company and its main unions finalized a workforce reduction plan (ERE) that will ultimately affect at least 4,525 people—14 fewer than initially agreed upon—1,500 fewer than the cuts initially proposed. This process will cost the company €2.5 billion, but starting in 2028, it will generate annual savings of €600 million, the telecom company announced in a statement on Monday.

The Secretary of State for Labor, Joaquín Pérez Rey, has reached an agreement with the CCOO and UGT unions to begin processing the increase in leave days for the death of a family member and for a new leave for palliative care. This measure will not have the support of employers' associations after the Ministry of Labor handed it over to the CeEO (Spanish Confederation of Employers' Organizations) at the beginning of the month to finalize negotiations. Following the meeting convened this Monday by the Ministry of Labor, Pérez Rey thanked the unions for "rising to the occasion" by increasing the leave for the death of a family member to 10 days and the new leave for palliative care to 15 days. "It's a shame that the Spanish employers' association isn't part of this agreement. It's incomprehensible. They should explain to the employers and workers of this country why they have excluded themselves from a regulation that puts our country in line with the rest of Europe and how they can show such a high degree of insensitivity," he stated. However, he asserted that this is no less important agreement. "The fact that the employers' association isn't involved doesn't diminish its importance," he affirmed. In this regard, the Secretary of State asked the Spanish employers' association to focus on improving the well-being of companies and workers in the country, instead of persecuting sick workers. "We shouldn't persecute those who get sick; what we need to prevent is workers getting sick. And do you know how workers get sick? Precisely when they have to return to their jobs two days after a child dies," he added. The Ministry of Labor wants to extend bereavement leave for the death of a spouse, partner, or relatives up to the second degree of consanguinity to 10 days, which can be taken up to four weeks after the death, either consecutively or intermittently. It also proposes granting up to 15 days for the new bereavement leave for relatives up to the second degree of consanguinity. Furthermore, the Royal Decree that the Ministry of Labor intends to promote includes the incorporation of a one-day leave to accompany a person receiving euthanasia. This leave will be available to any worker designated as the companion, regardless of whether or not there is a family relationship.

Information about the CUME (National Insurance Benefit), a benefit received by parents who must care for children with serious illnesses, circulates among families as classified information. The Spanish government has had it under the Social Security umbrella since 2011, but these families complain that hospitals or social services often don't know that they can qualify for a reduction in working hours of at least 50% while receiving their full salary so they can dedicate themselves to accompanying their child to the doctor or keeping an eye on them. They also complain that the labor mutual insurance companies pressure them to return to work as soon as possible and have the final say, even overriding a medical report.

Swiss food giant Nestlé announced Thursday a global workforce reduction that will result in the cutting of approximately 16,000 jobs over the next two years, equivalent to almost 6% of its workforce, and also raised its cost savings target to 3 billion francs from the end of 2027. The decision comes just months after the Appointment of Spanish executive Pablo Isla as new president of the group last June.

More tourism, fewer jobs in manufacturing. This is, in essence, the conclusion of a new study analyzing the impact of the increase in foreign visitor flows on the labor market in Spain. It shows how the arrival of more tourists leads to an increase in hiring in this sector and in related services, but at the same time destroys others, especially in manufacturing, where wages have also fallen.

The Andorran Government will present a draft reform of labor legislation this fall that should facilitate the creation of works councils in the private sector. The Andorran Government announced this Tuesday in an official statement following a meeting of the Economic and Social Council (CES).

For employees, it increases the risk of heat exhaustion and injuries, and, in the long term, neurological and cardiovascular diseases. For companies, it means more lost work hours, higher costs due to having to hire staff to cover overtime or sick leave, and even facing legal sanctions. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) estimate in a report published this Friday that two out of three workers worldwide are exposed to risks associated with extreme heat, and that this poses "new and growing challenges" in the workplace that must be urgently addressed.

The labor market continues to expand both in Catalonia and throughout Spain. Employment continued to grow in the second quarter of the year, with Catalonia now approaching four million employed people and reducing the unemployment rate to almost 8%, according to data from the Labor Force Survey (EPA) for the second quarter of this year, published this Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). Overall, employment in the country exceeds 22 million workers for the first time, while the unemployment rate falls below 11% and for the first time falls below pre-2008 financial crisis levels.