Retail employers, which include companies like El Corte Inglés, Carrefour, Alcampo and Ikea, are against reducing working hours. “I want to be clear on this subject: focusing the entire debate on productivity on the number of hours or days we work per week is a dangerous exercise in populism,” declared the president of the National Association of large distribution companies (Anged). Matilde García Duarte, during the association’s assembly.
“Imposing by law a reduction in the working day can lead to an unpleasant surprise, because many businessmen have to reduce their production because they cannot bear the cost of hiring more people,” he noted in his speech.
Matilde García Duarte joined the large distribution employers’ union last December. Until then, her professional career was not linked to the company, but she was the right hand of José Luis Martínez-Almeida at Madrid City Hall, where she served as general coordinator of the City Hall.
“We are also very concerned that a possible reduction in working hours is being discussed behind the agreements already reached. This would mean a change in the rules of the game, with a high cost for those sectors that have found, through collective bargaining, formulas that allow professional and family reconciliation without loss of productive capacity,” said García Duarte.
Furthermore, the president of Anged insisted on “the alarming level of absenteeism”. “Because of its economic and social cost, this should be a priority point of the government’s reform program,” he stressed. “In sectors like retail, absenteeism disrupts the normal functioning of stores, warehouses and supply chains on a daily basis. The cost to businesses and the impact on employee health harm productivity. This is a cry from all economic sectors that must be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Anged assures that eight out of ten companies in the sector have difficulty finding certain profiles to fill their vacant positions and that commerce is the second sector which leaves the most jobs vacant. He estimates them at 16,000, out of a total of 148,000 vacant positions which, he assures, affect the entire Spanish economy. In total, Anged companies employ more than 235,700 people, including more than 154,000 women.
In this context, Anged recommends asking for “a reflection” to “build the foundations so that companies can be more productive,” said García Duarte. “This means seriously tackling the problem of regulatory costs and market unity, promoting a modern and flexible labor relations framework, having a competitive tax system that attracts investment and supports growth,” he said. he listed.
“It is the large companies and the most productive sectors which, through collective bargaining, are taking measures to better reconcile personal and professional life. First, it is essential to promote reforms that improve business productivity. Later, the flexibility of the working day will be a consequence of progress in productivity,” concluded the president of the union of large employers.
