Eric Martin, a freelance property agent, also drives trucks and sometimes moonlights as a football referee. After more than 10 years of odd jobs, he has still not landed the one thing he really wants – a permanent contract, in any position.
The 31-year-old Spaniard, who has also worked as a lifeguard, store assistant and postman, says he cannot provide properly for his growing family as long as he does only temporary jobs.
“It’s not giving me the security my family needs,” says Martin, whose wife is expecting their second child.
As Spain emerges from a deep downturn, short-term job contracts like Martin’s are helping to chip away at an unemployment rate that affects nearly a quarter of the workforce and is second only to Greece’s in Europe.
But they are accentuating a two-tier labour market that during Spain’s recent double-dip recession left temporary workers first in the firing line, regardless of their performance at work. Most of the three million jobs lost over the past seven years were held by these short-term contract workers, many of whom were in their twenties and thirties.
This generation has been unable to get mortgage loans to buy a home or start families and advance careers in what economists predict will hold back the Spanish economy for years to come.
Numbers of temporary workers have grown steadily over the past three decades. Short-term contracts account for nearly a quarter of all positions. That’s less than before the downturn, but far more than anywhere else in the eurozone. Proportionately, these jobs are now proliferating at double the rate of permanent ones.
For centre-right Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, a job recovery based on part-time contracts is a mixed blessing, as his government trumpets its handling of Spain’s economic recovery before elections at the end of this year.
The government says 600,000 jobs will be created this year, the biggest annual employment jump since 2005. Spanish national economic output should rise by more than three per cent this year, more than in most other European countries.
Yet this is not translating into better living standards for many Spaniards, partly because of their precarious employment conditions. According to official data, temporary workers made an average of €15,433 2013, 36 per cent less than permanent employees.
As a result, many voters are turning from Rajoy’s Popular Party to new parties such as the leftist Podemos and centrist Ciudadanos, which have already done well in local elections.
Martin, who lives in Madrid, says he makes €400 a month from his property agent work while his income from the other odd jobs is uneven. The family makes ends meet thanks to his wife’s permanent contract as a postal worker. But Martin got a mortgage only because his parents provided guarantees for the bank.
“What am I supposed to live off? Air?” Martin said.
The government acknowledges the dual labour market is a problem. It says a 2012 overhaul of labour laws will eventuallylead to more temporary jobs becoming permanent.
That is because, according to the overhaul, long-term workers will become cheaper to fire, lessening the incentives for employers to hire short-term staff who up until now have been easier to lay off.
For now, stop-gap jobs may be better than none at all, many say.