Latest news with #InfoJobs
Local Spain
14-05-2025
- Business
- Local Spain
Do English speakers still have an advantage in Spain's labour market?
Knowing how to speak English well is a recognised advantage when trying to apply for a job in Spain, but is it enough to stand out still, or are there greater skills and even more linguistic abilities you must prove? Mónica Pérez, Director of Communications and Research at InfoJobs told El País that 'nowadays, languages remain an important competitive advantage in the Spanish labour market,' but she believes that in many sectors and positions, a strong grasp of the world's lingua franca no longer differentiates you from the rest of the candidates. According to Pérez, speaking English has become such an integral skill for Spaniards to have in the job market that unless you're applying for a position that needs a native English speaker with an international company, it may not really put you above everyone else. César Martínez, professor of Human Resources at Comillas Pontifical University claims that "achieving an intermediate level, equivalent to a B2, has become established as the minimum standard for maintaining a professional conversation," so many Spaniards may have this already. Apparently, many job agency professionals believe that now you have to speak a third language to have the edge over everyone else. "Speaking a third language can be a great advantage in certain markets. In short, the current labour market values multilingualism as part of a more complete and adaptable profile," Miguel Mercado, national director of Randstad Professional told El País. German, for example, continues to be highly valued for technical and industry-related fields according to the experts, while French is in high demand in services and international trade. In fact, German is one of the languages that generates the highest average salary in the job offers published on InfoJobs. There has also been growing demand in languages like Portuguese due to Brazil's importance in some sectors and Italian in fashion, design, and food industries. Languages such as Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, and Japanese are also very helpful to get positions in companies that do business in Asia and the Middle East. All this would certainly suggest that English speakers are no longer viewed as something 'special' in Spain's job market anymore. Does this mean that speaking Spanish and English can't be the chief reason to get hired in Spain? According to the general manager of international education company Education First (EF) Spain, Niccolò del Monte, around 50,000 jobs in Spain remain unfilled due to a lack of English skills. He's also warned that English proficiency among young people in Spain has declined over the last ten years. In a recent study by the company, they also revealed that one-third of the jobs for professionals over 40 remain unfilled because the candidates lack sufficient English skills. This would indicate that around 90 percent of the job offers here require a high level of English and only around 33 percent of Spaniards have that. According to the study, Spaniards have a higher level of English than the French and the Italians, but worse than the Portuguese and the Germans. Del Monte also agreed though that lots of companies these days are asking for other languages as well as English. And PageGroup's managing director, José Castellanos, confirmed that ongoing training, such as learning and speaking several languages, "is essential" for advancing your career. So, if you're looking for employment in Spain and you already have English and Spanish skills, you may want to up your abilities even more and take on a third language to really put you on top. Nevertheless, your fluency in English may still be the chief reason why you land a particular position.
Local Spain
24-04-2025
- Business
- Local Spain
People in Spain pay half of their wages on rent
A new report has revealed that people in Spain now spend almost half their gross income on rent, laying bare the severity of the rental market situation for local people. Last year saw a wave of protests to demand affordable housing across Spain, strongly linked to the rise in short-term tourist rental accommodation in Spain's major cities and tourist destinations. The trend has continued into this year, with a nationwide demonstration held simultaneously in Spanish 40 cities earlier in April. Spanish radio network Cadena Ser reports that in 2024 average rents rose five times more than average wages in the country. According to the ' Relationship between salaries and rental housing in 2024 ' report by property website Fotocasa, in 2024 renters in Spain on average spent 47 percent of their salary on paying the rent, 4 percent more than in 2023 and 9 percent more than in 2019. This figure was based on average salary data from the InfoJobs platform and average rental prices from Fotocasa's property index. It also showed that rents have risen by a significant 14 percent year-on-year, bringing the average price in December 2024 to €13.29/m2 per month. This means that, taking into account the average gross salary in Spain, which in 2024 was €27,060 (€2,255 gross per month in 12 payments), renters had to spend 47 percent of their salary for an 80 m/2 home. The percentage of tenants' salaries spent on housing has risen from 38 percent in 2019 to 47 percent today, far exceeding financial recommendations. This is 'a figure well above the 30 percent recommended by official bodies,' says María Matos, spokesperson for Fotocasa. 'Furthermore, the 4 percentage point increase in just one year shows a radical change in renting, which exacerbates the inaccessibility of housing and could lead to long-term housing insecurity,' she added. This is a problem across most of Spain, but is particularly acute in regions like Madrid, where tenants now have to spend 71 percent of their gross salary to pay their rent. In Catalonia the figure is 64 percent and in the Balearic Islands more than 60 percent, although there has been a small decrease in the last year. Looking at the Fotocasa data, on a provincial level the 10 provinces of Spain that spend most of their salary on rent for an 80 m/2 home are: Barcelona (71 percent of gross salary), Madrid (71 percent), Guipúzcoa (59 percent), Vizcaya (56 percent), Girona (55 percent), Valencia (53 percent), Málaga (49 percent), Seville (45 percent) and Alicante (43 percent). Residents in 70 percent of provinces across the country spend more than the recommended 30 percent of their salary on renting. Meanwhile, in the provinces of Zamora, León, Badajoz, Ávila, Córdoba, Albacete, Cáceres, Teruel, Ourense, Ciudad Real, Jaén, Guadalajara and Castellón, renters spend 30 percent or less.
