It’s 9:00 in the morning. A worker arrives at her work station, gears up with a headset, and reviews the daily goals: “500 calls?” The girl breaks out laughing. “We’re going to do 50,” she says. This is the recreation of an American tiktoker of the phenomenon called quiet quitting –silent resignation–, a trend that some media such as the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal have classified as one of the new labor syndromes that affects the young generations. However, In Spain, the passive attitude towards job performance is nothing new.
The reasons for boredom are, partly emotional. “People talk a lot more about look for a job with purpose. He is more interested in his impact on society, on his family and his mental health. In Spain there are reflections, but the reflection is in no case ‘I stop working’ but rather ‘how do I fit it into the rest of my life’, affirms Christopher Dottie, director of Hays in southern Europe.
But they are also cheap. When workers are asked about how to deal with their demotivation, they have the clear answer: money. 65% of Spanish employees affirm that a salary increase would restore their spirit to work, while increasing recognition or labor flexibility would only solve 35% and 24%, respectively, of the problem of the burned worker, they consider.
Why not give up?
The Spanish labor market is rigid, due to high unemployment, which is around 13%, and the second highest temporary employment rate in Europe. Trinidad Vega, Director of Operations of the Adecco Group, explains that, culturally, it is difficult for Spaniards to assume the risk of changing jobs, since “it generates a lot of uncertainty, we continue to have a work-for-life mentality,” she says.
In fact, the INE data indicate that the percentage of workers who have been working for more than six years in their job has only increased. Since 2007 it has exceeded the barrier of 40% of the active population and in 2022 it reached 46%. Although these workers are burned out, Dottie affirms that they avoid looking for work alternatives because “the work model is so rigid that They are not going to give up the 10 or 20 years of compensation that would correspond to them”.
On the other hand, on many occasions, job opportunities imply geographical mobility and, in Spain, very few professionals are willing to move their residence to join a new job. “Even at a national level, Spaniards look for jobs close to where we live, although this trend is also changing,” says Vega.
No big give up?
The great resignation has been a widely studied phenomenon in the US. “After the pandemic [los trabajadores] they have made a portfolio, looked for new opportunities, they have wanted to change their lifestyle…”, explains Dottie. Thanks to these vital reflections, almost 50 million Americans left the labor market between 2020 and 2022, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics .
The Great Recession did not occur in Spain. As explained by the Adecco expert, the Spanish and American labor markets are very different. While ours is still very rigid, the American is dynamic. In addition, it is relatively easy to find employment opportunities. In Spain, leaving work generates much more uncertainty and venturing to join a new one is faced with fear of temporality.
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