The Canary Islands Confederation of Entrepreneurs believes that "lowering structural unemployment will be very difficult"

CCOO recalls that, of the four key factors for business productivity, only one depends on the workers

December 15 2023 (13:36 WET)
José Cristóbal García, Secretary General of the Canary Islands Confederation of Entrepreneurs
José Cristóbal García, Secretary General of the Canary Islands Confederation of Entrepreneurs

The general secretary of the Canary Islands Confederation of Entrepreneurs, José Cristóbal García, said this Friday that it will be "very difficult" to lower the structural unemployment level of the Canary Islands community, which currently stands at 15%.

García responded to a question from journalists on the matter at the same press conference in which the regional campaign ‘What is good for you is good for everyone’ was presented, which seeks to prevent workplace accidents on the islands.

Likewise, he continued, Canary Islands is "the community where the active population has grown the most", and he said that this, together with the aging population, affects the number of unemployed.

He commented that, in relation to structural unemployment, there are "serious" problems of absenteeism, while reaffirming his idea of "deepening" the issue of unemployment to improve productivity.

"It will be very difficult in the Canary Islands to lower that level of structural unemployment," he added, while emphasizing "the mismatch" that exists between training capacities and the demands of jobs, which are not being filled.

 

CCOO highlights other factors for productivity, beyond absenteeism

Representing CCOO, Carmen Marrero, responded that absenteeism and productivity are issues that should be addressed, but in no case are they "the biggest" of the problems in the Canary Islands region.

In that sense, she exemplified with the Basque Country, a community that she says has the highest rate of absenteeism while having the highest rates of productivity.

"When we talk about absenteeism, we must define what we are talking about, because workers have the right to be sick, to have vacations, paternity leave, and you cannot put everything in the same bag," she replied.

Marrero said that in the face of unjustified absenteeism, companies must take measures, although, on the other hand, they must also consider "why there are so many sick leaves and what the working conditions are."

From CCOO she added that productivity includes the resources used by the company, how it is organized, the labor factor and the business capacity for that company to be productive.

Likewise, she said, "of the four factors that influence it, only one is the working class, which seems to be the only one that is always targeted." 

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