Despite being the Autonomous Community with the lowest unemployment rate - 8.4%, according to the latest Labor Force Survey (LFS) - there are still 88,100 unemployed people in the Basque Country. At the same time, many companies find it difficult to find qualified employees. This unemployment is mainly concentrated in seven sectors, according to Adecco’s latest report on the most requested profiles.

First and foremost is the service sector, which is showing a shortage of administrative staff. "The study focuses on professionals in the Basque Country who specialize in purchasing, exporting, marketing or human resources in the Basque Country. ) telephone operators are also required ".

The state of health emergencies and the saturation of primary care centers during the sixth wave of the pandemic have exacerbated the shortage of health professionals. This sector needs to include nursing assistants and include primary care physicians or laboratory technicians. However, the most sought after health workers are nurses.

The industry, which has a large weight in the Basque Country, suffers from a worrying shortage of specialized workers, as companies often complain. And that affects almost every branch of the industry. Adecco’s report talks about specialized operators in professions such as milling machine, boiler, welder, turner, electric cable, folder, maintenance technician and so on. But other technical profiles that are not more related to the office are also missing, such as administrative staff with languages.

Research shows that this lack of talent is compounded by the lack of skilled and inexperienced professionals and the high mobility of these profiles from one company to another in search of a better salary.
Within the industry, the logistics and transportation branch needs profiles, such as order pickers with PDA management, distributors, warehouses, and officially qualified shippers. Professions with a considerably higher demand than supply, as in the case of retailers and promoters in the distribution and retail sectors.

What they are looking for in the automotive industry

The needs of automotive workers are similar to those of the industry as a whole. But there are also a few specific profiles. These include stamping and machining operators, officers, welders, maintenance and quality staff, and mechanical workshop and engineering staff.

Finally, the construction sector - and more specifically within the railway services sub-sector - needs specialized operators, technical office profiles, engineers and administrative staff with languages.

According to the latest Infoempleo Adecco report on the labor market supply and demand, almost 53% of human resources managers in Spain admit that they have problems hiring talent for their company. Although it is still a very high percentage, it represents a 28-point drop compared to the previous year.

ERTE, the rise in the unemployment rate during the worst months of the pandemic, the reduction in hours and mobility, in addition to uncertainty, led to a drop in recruitment and a greater desire for candidates to move or leave the sector. performing functions other than their own, even with other conditions. However, and Adecco research confirms this, in some sectors it is still almost impossible to match labor supply and demand.

Growth in the Basque Country at 4.5% this year

The Basque Government revised the economic growth forecasts for the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC) by 2.2 points, due to the effects of the war in Ukraine; According to this, the Basque economy will grow by 4.5% in 2022, 2.2% less than the previous forecast, and it is expected to grow by 4.1% in 2023.

In terms of employment, the unemployment rate will be 9.5% in 2022, creating 16,600 jobs. The above figures show an unemployment rate of 9.2% and the creation of 11,500 jobs, while in 2023 unemployment is projected to rise to 9.1% and create 8,000 jobs.

Finance and Economy Minister Pedro Azpiazu said in a press conference after the Governing Council that "when the pandemic crisis began to be addressed and confidence was returning to economic actors, Russia's invasion of Ukraine completely changed the world situation for 2022-2023."

In any case, he called for not being "alarmist" because the growth of GDP in the Basque Country for this year and next is "strong" and will go hand in hand with employment. He explained that the war would "delay" the recovery that was expected after the crisis caused by the covid.

The Basque Country is not in crisis, stressing that all indicators were "very positive" before the war, but it is true that the invasion of Ukraine has "complicated" the situation and that economic growth will be lower than expected.

He added that the Basque economy was "severely and severely damaged" as a result of the war and the sanctions imposed on Russia. For example, the prices of oil, gas and electricity have "risen dramatically", which "affects Basque energy-intensive companies".