Christmas decoration in the shops of Murcia, in a file image. /
The data will be 24% higher than last year, fully restricted by the pandemic
The Christmas campaign will generate in the Region of Murcia about 16,460 contracts, a volume higher than in 2020 by 24%, when 13,278 signatures were registered. Despite this data, the comparison with the year before the pandemic is negative, with a fall of 2.3% (in 2019 16,841 contracts were signed in the region), a decrease five tenths more marked than the country’s average, located in 1.8%.
In this sense, the Region will contribute 3.8% of the contracts nationwide, according to Randstad, which published its hiring forecasts for this Christmas season, considering it as the period between Black Friday and the January Sales. To carry out these forecasts, Randstad took into account the commerce, hospitality, and logistics and transport sectors.
In the country as a whole, the Randstad study estimates that the Christmas campaign will register around 434,570 hires, a volume 24.8% higher than in 2020, when 348,210 were signed (a difference of 86,360), although still 1.8 % lower than 2019, before the covid, when 442,540 were signed.
All the sectors that are part of this study will see their recruitment volume increase compared to last year. Commerce will grow by 6.1%, while logistics will grow by 7.3%. But the really significant increase will occur in the hospitality sector, since hiring will go from 11,863 last year to 75,002 today, a volume that will multiply by 6.3. A sector with a wide margin for improvement since, despite the significant increase it will obtain this year, 161,104 contracts were signed in 2019, more than double.
“Although the volume of recruitment will still be lower than that of the onset of the health crisis, the figures indicate a fairly positive trend. The fact that all sectors are growing is a milestone, but the indicator that should attract us the most is the hospitality industry. When the sector recovers completely, as well as tourism and consumer confidence, employment will return to the same levels or even higher, ”says Valentin Bote, director of Randstad Research.
Castilla-La Mancha, Valencia, Galicia and Andalusia, unique in growing
Randstad detects considerable differences in terms of the variations in the volumes of contracts that will be signed during this Christmas. Castilla-La Mancha (with a growth of 14.4%), the Valencian Community (5.5%), Galicia (1.8%) and Andalusia (0.8%) will be the only autonomous regions to see hiring grow, not only compared to last year, but also to 2019, before the outbreak of the pandemic.
Already registering falls compared to 2019, but still above the national average (-1.8%), are the Basque Country (-1.2%), the Community of Madrid (-1.3%) and Cantabria ( -1.8%).
With falls more pronounced than the average for the country as a whole are the Region of Murcia (-2.3%), Catalonia (-2.7%), Navarra (-3.3%), Extremadura (-4.3% ), Aragon (-4.6%), Castilla y León (-7.8%) and Asturias (-8.4%). The greatest decreases will take place in La Rioja (10%), the Canary Islands (-19%) and the Balearic Islands (-21.2%).
The logistics sector will once again be the protagonist
Randstad predicts that the logistics sector will be one of the main drivers of recruitment during the Christmas season. In fact, the profiles that logistics companies will demand the most to respond to increased consumption will be packers, carters, warehouse workers and carriers, among others.
In addition, an increase in the needs of professionals for customer service is detected, both for ‘online’ and telephone service. Among the most valued competencies and skills, this campaign will highlight the domain of technological tools related to the sector.
Although it represents a lower volume, the commerce sector will also see an increase in recruitment. Companies will need professionals to reinforce their workforce in the face of the increase in consumers, such as clerks, promoters, hostesses and commercial profiles, mainly, among which the close relationship with the client and their communication skills are valued.
Given the prominence of e-commerce in this campaign, candidates will often have to have digital skills and knowledge of certain technology platforms typical of commerce or logistics.
Regarding the hospitality industry, companies are interested in candidates having experience in a similar position to respond to the increase in demand in a short space of time, so a rapid adaptation to the job is a highly valued aspect. . When it comes to selecting candidates, companies also value, for example, profiles oriented to customer service and commercial capacity are necessary in the sector.
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