By Belén Carreño
MADRID (Reuters) – Trade unions are organizing protests across Spain on Thursday to pressurize the government and the business sector into agreeing to a reduction in working hours. Employers, however, are concerned about potential increases in costs as a result of this change.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialist government is advocating for a plan to reduce the working week by 2.5 hours from the current 40 hours, claiming it will enhance productivity. This push comes as part of a broader effort to narrow the productivity gap between European Union member states and economic competitors like the United States and China, as highlighted in a recent report by former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi for the European Commission.
To gain the support of employers, the government has proposed a hiring bonus for small businesses with fewer than 10 employees. This incentive aims to help these businesses manage the reduced hours while maintaining the same level of service, according to a source involved in the ongoing negotiations.
A senior government official indicated that Madrid could implement the reduction without achieving consensus and plans to do so before the end of 2024. The proposal calculates the working week on an annual basis, allowing workers in sectors where adjusting shifts is challenging, such as hospitality, to accumulate hours that could later be compensated with holidays.
Currently, Spaniards work more hours than most Europeans. In 2023, the average working week in Spain was 36.4 hours, slightly higher than the European Union average of 36.1 hours, as reported by Eurostat. Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz has argued that reducing working hours will improve productivity, an area where Spain has historically fallen behind its European counterparts.
Businesses, however, are concerned that the proposed changes will result in employees working fewer hours for the same pay, thereby increasing labor costs.
The effects of similar measures in other countries remain uncertain. For instance, when France introduced a 35-hour workweek in 2000 with the expectation of creating hundreds of thousands of jobs, it resulted in higher labor costs, making French workers more expensive and companies less competitive.