Crisis and Labour Market in Spain

This article examines the employment policies implemented in Spain since the onset of the crisis and highlights the consequences of the major legal changes that have been passed. Preceded by an overview on the strong and weak points of the Spanish labour market before the onset of the crisis, the first part of the analysis focuses on the labour reform implemented by the socialist government before 2012, marked by a deteriorating economic and social context with mounting unemployment and by a limited shift towards deregulation. Then the article offers some critical thinking on the new policy stage opened in Spain after the right-wing party gained an overwhelming majority in Parliament in November 2011, arguing that the magnitude of the legal changes introduced in 2012 is such that we might speak of a new Spanish model of industrial relations, a model of “flexinsecurity”. This section outlines how the reform (labour “disruption”) breaks the traditional balance between employers and employees, examining the following issues: the new forms of instability in hiring; how employers are allowed to impose internal flexibility on workers; the new and devalued collective bargaining system; and the easier and cheaper regime of dismissal. Finally, the article analyses the legal measures implemented in 2013 to complete that major reform.