MADRID
AROUND 87 percent of workers say that the economic crisis has made it necessary to introduce labour reforms but 76 percent claim that all that the new laws have done is make it easier for companies to fire people, market research group Infojobs claimed yesterday.
Despite the fact that Spain's workforce feels hard done by, said the researchers, only 26 percent of them say they will be supporting the General Strike to be held on Wednesday of next week, 29th September.
Infojobs findings which were polled from a group of 600 people looking for work, including those currently claiming unemployment benefit, also point to the uncertainty people feel about whether or not the new labour laws will succeed in bringing down the dole queue by 20 percent. Only a quarter of those interviewed said the legislation, just recently passed by the national Parliament, will kick start the creation of jobs.
According to Infojobs, it is young people aged between 18 and 24 who have the highest level of confidence in the reforms of the labour laws. Some 37 percent of this group hoped that the shake-up will enable them to find a job.
Despite the fact that the new legislation will make it possible for companies to fire their staff if takings continually decline, 42 percent of people already in work said that they weren't afraid of losing their jobs because they believed the worst of the adjustment period had passed.
Infojobs' research also took in the opinions of company employers, through 800 intereviews. Of these, 70 percent said they didn't believe that the labour reforms would help create new jobs. Nearly a half of the management group polled on the subject said that they would now have greater flexibility to reduce their staffing levels with 44.5 percent of company directors agreeing that those who will be worse off as a result of the reforms will be the employees themselves.