Spian lost 900K jobs amid coronavirus lockdown

MADRID- Shimaa Tahtawi

Spain has shed close to 900 000 jobs, more than half of them temporary, since it went into lockdown in mid-March to fight the coronavirus outbreak, social security data showed on Thursday.

Some 900,000 workers have lost their job since mid-March, with those on short-term contracts in tourism or construction among the hardest hit. At least another 620,000 have seen their contracts suspended with temporary layoffs and tens of thousands are on sick leave.

“The data is extraordinary, it’s unprecedented,” Social Security Minister Jose Luis Escriva told a news conference. “It reflects a real disruption to normal activity.”

Spain, which has the world’s second-highest death toll from the epidemic after Italy with 10,003 fatalities as of Wednesday, has allowed citizens to leave home since March 14 for essential trips only.

The data showed 898 822 Spaniards have now lost their jobs since the start of the lockdown, including around 550 000 temporary workers.

The number of people officially registered as unemployed in Spain rose to 3.5 million in March, the highest level since April 2017. That data does not include all the new job losses as not all workers officially registered as unemployed.

Neither the social security nor the unemployment data include the so-called “ERTE” temporary layoffs, under which companies that face financial difficulties can temporarily suspend a worker’s contract.

Many companies, including car plants and other major businesses, have implemented such temporary layoff measures over the past weeks.

“It is always a big problem and it is the double challenge we have: to fight the epidemic and to avoid the economic activity being swept away. We will have to work on relaunching the economy once we can get control of the epidemic,” Transport Minister Jose Luis Abalos told RNE radio.

March is usually a good month for employment in Spain because it marks the start of the holiday season, with many temporary workers finding jobs in particular in the hospitality sector. However hotels, restaurants and bars are currently shut because of the coronavirus lockdown.