Over the last decade, the number of Special Employment Centers in Castile and León has increased by 27%, from the 196 registered in 2014 to the existing 249. At the same time, employment growth in these entities reached 47%.
The Minister of Industry, Commerce and Employment, Leticia García, visited today in Salamanca the facilities of the Porsiete cooperative, which recently received the award for best cooperative company of the year at the Awards Cooperatives and Social Economy convened each year by the Council of Castile and Leon.
During the visit, the head of the ministry was accompanied by the president of the cooperative, Pilar Rodríguez; the general director of Social Economy and Self-Employed Workers, Emma Fernández; the territorial delegate of the Council, Eloy Ruiz, and the president of the Provincial Council, Javier Iglesias.
Through her visit, the advisor wanted to congratulate and recognize the work of the entire team and all the staff, made up of a total of 25 workers (81% disabled and 80% women). To this social commitment, begun 17 years ago, is added the commitment to environmental sustainability, since it is a company dedicated to circular waste management (used vegetable oils, clothing, textiles and shoes and electrical and electronic appliances).
The company also stands out for its commitment to innovation and the integration of new technologies, among which a new specific APP for waste management, which allows you to plan routes, send pick-up data for each customer to headquarters, Provide delivery information and collect any incidents that may occur.
A trajectory which, as the advisor pointed out, shows the competitiveness and productive capacity of social economy entities in the Community, which represent a profitable business model from both an economic and social point of view.
The Porsiete cooperative also has the dual status of a non-profit social initiative cooperative and a Special Employment Center, which makes it a reference in the social economy, supporting the employment of people with disabilities according to the principles and the values of cooperativism.
More than 38 million euros to support the social economy
The Junta de Castilla y León has considerably strengthened the support it provides both to cooperative societies – by encouraging the incorporation of their members and the financing of their investments – and to Special Employment Centers –financed wage costs for disabled workers and its support units, as well as investments aimed at improving and creating jobs.
Economic support, which extends to other entities of the social economy (integration companies, work companies, agrarian processing companies, foundations and associations with economic activity), has resulted in a budget increase of around 49% since the start of the legislature, going from 25.5 million in 2022 to 38 million this year.
At the same time, in recent months, pre-existing aid has been modified to improve its conditions and three new lines have been designed and convened to promote the transition from sheltered employment to ordinary employmentto finance investments in integration companies and to promote the dissemination of the social economy by its associative entities.
The promotion of the Government of Castilla y León among companies and entities of the social economy, as well as the effective management carried out by the entities themselves, has resulted in significant growth both in number of entities and jobs that they generate.
In this sense, over the last decade the number of Special Employment Centers in Castile and León has increased by 27% – from the 196 registered in 2014 to the 249 that currently exist. At the same time, employment growth in these entities reaches 47%, increasing from 4,303 workers to 6,350. In the province of Salamanca, where the Porsiete cooperative is located, there are currently 33 Special Employment Centers with a total of 598 workers.
For their part, during the same period, worker cooperatives grew by 20% – from 626 to 751 –, this type of cooperative being the one that experienced the strongest growth in Castilla y León.
