The country's first industrial sector, with 506,000 workers in the first half of 2019 according to the EPA, continues to generate jobs and the figures reflect a labor market characterized by a clear trend towards full-time and indefinite hiring.

The number of indefinite contracts increased 4.8% in the first half of 2019 compared to the same period last year. Catalonia, Madrid and Navarra lead the ranking of the autonomous communities with the highest number of permanent contracts.

However, as a whole, the uncertainty that dominates the national and international economic landscape is already moving to the labor market of the sector and the Report reflects a slowdown in the pace of job creation.

Thus, although the total employment growth in the first half of 2019 was + 0.8% compared to the same period of the previous year, the data in the Report reflects that lower increase since in the first half of 2018 compared to 2017 it was of + 2.5% and + 5.2% in the same period of 2017 compared to 2016.

“We are a vital industry for local development, the structuring of the territory and the whole of the Spanish economy and we need political stability and legal security to continue growing and generating wealth and employment”, says the director general of FIAB, Mauricio García de Quevedo.

Youth and female employment

Youth employment – from 16 to 35 years old – represents about one third of the total occupation of the sector at the end of the first half of the year and one in three employed in our industry is female, a figure higher than the occupation in the whole of the manufacturing industry, where it is one in four.

Within the sector, technical content positions also increase and 14.4% of the total jobs are covered by technical profiles and scientific professionals.

"The increase in technical profiles is a clear indicator of the commitment of the Spanish food and beverage industry to innovation and talent," said Mauricio García de Quevedo, CEO of FIAB.

Likewise, the percentage of graduates employed by the industry was increased by 3.6% nationwide during the first half of this year. By Autonomous Communities, the Canary Islands doubles the national percentage relative to the weight of employed graduates over the total followed by the Community of Madrid and La Rioja.

>> FIAB Employment Report 2019



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