We read in ARA that the president of the employers' association of Castilla-La Mancha, meeting with other employers at one of those gatherings they hold from time to time (at the CEOE assembly), has denounced or perhaps criticized that young people request sick leave for sentimental reasons. "Now we have a sick leave not because the company has mistreated them, but because their girlfriend has left them," he said. And he also said, when he had already gained momentum, that young people are "idiots" and that anything that happens to them at work is already a problem.

Josep Sánchez Llibre (Vilassar de Mar, 1949), re-elected president of Foment del Treball less than a month ago, prioritizes the fight against absenteeism and plans to have a white paper with solution proposals ready by the first fortnight of September. He already has the list of professionals who will prepare it and explains it in this interview with ARA, conducted during a break at the Annual Meeting of the Cercle d'Economia.

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%.

The dean of one of the faculties at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) lashed out a month ago at the absenteeism, lack of commitment, and disrespect of some first-year students. He expressed this in an email he sent to 1st and 2nd-year degree students, in which he explained that they have observed low levels of class attendance and "deficient involvement in following the subjects".

Few surprises. Josep Sánchez Llibre has collected 300 endorsements out of the minimum 50, representing about 1,800 votes, two-thirds of those from the general assembly. This will allow him to lead a third term at the head of Foment del Treball, until 2030. The elections, which were supposed to be in July, have been moved forward to May 18,, the day on which the fact of there being no other candidacy means he can be proclaimed president by the general assembly. One of the main objectives of the new term will be to combat labor absenteeism, with the commitment to prepare a white paper with proposals involving all economic and social agents. Another of the priorities will be to reduce tax pressure, he explained during an event at the Reial Cercle Artístic de Barcelona, with the attendance of more than 60 businessmen and executives who support him. The period for submitting candidacies ended this Friday.

The article published in ARA last Friday about a UPF dean's circular complaining about students' absence from university garnered an impressive number of comments, which, taken together, probably already state the bulk of what I will expound on next. I cannot help but react because a lifetime of work at the university compels me to, even more so knowing and appreciating the Faculty of the dean who complained, and considering how many times we professors have spoken.

The president of Pimec, Antoni Cañete, has proposed an agreement with the government, parties, and unions to utilize the 60 million from the agreement with Social Security to strengthen primary care and reduce absenteeism. In this way, he insists on the warning he already gave in an interview with ARA, in which he warned that these resources are not being executed and must be returned.

Since the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic, which altered the usual functioning of classes, attendance at Catalan universities has been weakening. However, since university education is not compulsory, there is no official data on this type of absenteeism. Now, however, the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) has published the first report by a public university on this phenomenon, which concludes that 40% of its student community does not attend class in some subjects.

The traps in solitaire of some economists and politicians require that many others must be attentive so as not to lose touch with the economic reality in which intervention is desired. Thus, when they tell us that income is improving, and that employment is improving even more, they are indirectly telling us that productivity is falling; sometimes to imply later that this drop is due to the lack of effort of the workers, ignoring the role of business surpluses in the accompaniments of technology to labor. Likewise, it is frightening to see how some pride themselves on job creation, despite the extremely high unemployment rate that Spain maintains (and would have more if we correctly counted the number of unemployed). Let us remember that fixed-term discontinuous employees are not considered unemployed, even though they receive benefits, and that, therefore, ingenuity must be forced to calculate the effectively employed population.

The GDP of the Catalan and Spanish economies has been growing at double the rates of the major European economies for several years, unemployment is falling, and inflation is trending toward the 2% target. Clearly, the macroeconomic figures paint a picture of a thriving economy. However, there is a growing perception among citizens and businesses that things aren't as good as they seem on the ground; rather, there's a general feeling that economic and social problems are piling up and that, despite the positive figures, things aren't quite working. More importantly, there's a sense that action is needed to prevent things from getting worse.

The current situation is positive. Growth prospects remain good for this newly begun 2026. In general, Spanish companies are more optimistic than their European counterparts, although several variables cloud their potential, such as high tax rates and absenteeism—especially sick leave—according to employers' organizations. These are essential elements, they affirm, for improving competitiveness and productivity. A key positive point is exports—once the initial shock of tariffs in the trade policies implemented by Donald Trump in the US has subsided—despite geopolitical instability, according to the survey results. Business Outlook 2026 which are prepared annually by European chambers of commerce, including the Spanish chamber, chaired by José Luis Bonet.

The president of the Family Business Institute (IEF), Ignacio Rivera, stated this Tuesday that companies and their executives are concerned about the "electoral mode" in which the political situation is currently taking place, and that it is "lasting longer and longer." In a meeting with journalists after closing the 28th IEF congress, held in Burgos, Rivera called on politicians to focus on solving problems and stressed the importance of "talking," because "the challenges we face are clear."