According to the Annual Labour Survey for 2024 published by Spain's employment ministry, almost two-thirds of companies in the Balearics said they struggled to find workers. The exact percentage (64.4%) was four and a half points higher than in 2023; it is likely to be higher still in 2025.
The reasons for this difficulty are varied, e.g. a lack of applicants, a lack of technical skills, language barriers, and disagreements over working conditions.
Jordi Mora, president of the Pimem federation of small to medium-sized business associations, says: "The imbalance between the supply and demand of workers is becoming chronic." In the past, when labour was scarce, the solution was to import workers from mainland Spain or other parts of Europe.
House prices in the Balearics now make that option unfeasible; it is much more difficult to attract workers to relocate to a region where accommodation will eat up a significant portion of their salary. "The solutions that worked in the past are no longer effective. We have been experiencing a lack of applicants for some time now," Mora adds.
Low unemployment is a further reason. The Balearic economy is "performing very well". There have been 22 consecutive months of record job creation. Then there is the school dropout rate. "We are lacking in vocational training, in skilled technicians. It's a structural problem that leads to a lack of skills. There's a shortage of good candidates."
The construction industry faces a particular challenge. Climent Olives of the builders association highlights a labour shortage exacerbated by "a worrying ageing of the workforce and the lack of generational replacement". The average age of workers is 45. Only ten per cent are aged 30 or younger. "If this trend continues, the sector faces a talent and experience gap that cannot be filled naturally. The problem is not that the sector isn’t attractive, but rather that there’s a lack of information."
Olives is calling on the Spanish Government to establish a comprehensive plan "that addresses this crisis holistically and urgently", including vocational training, regularisation of immigrant workers based on residency, and increased participation of young people and women.