The good performance of the labor market in Catalonia last 2023 has been accompanied by a strong growth in dismissals both in individual conciliation processes and in employment regulation files (ERE). In the first 11 months of last year, the increase was 14% in the aggregate of the two processes.
The strongest increase occurred in dismissals due to ERE, which shot up 29%, to 5,936. The workers who lost their jobs and went to a conciliation process were 47,910, 13% more than in the same period of the previous year.
In the case of ERE, UGT Catalunya estimates that in recent months the most important growth of ERE is for productive reasons. In the opinion of the union, the facilities provided by current legislation allow an ERE to be filed for economic reasons only if a forecast of a decrease in income or benefits is proven. The largest number of layoffs has occurred in the information technology company sector, where the adjustments in the subcontractors of Facebook, Glovo, Wallbox and Tripadvisor stand out. The ERE were also large in Holaluz or in Barcelona CCC Digital Services.
Regarding the increase in conciliations, the unions separate it from the labor reform that makes temporary contracts impossible. They believe it is due to the increase in occupancy.
