The housing crisis and lack of generational replacement worsen the shortage of workers in Ibiza

“There is a shortage of skilled labour in almost every sector, and there are many reasons behind it”, says Alfonso Rojo, president of the Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Ibiza and Formentera (Pimeef). The situation has once again become evident after several municipalities held job fairs where there were more vacancies than candidates to fill them. The lack of staff is particularly noticeable in seasonal positions, especially in hospitality and catering businesses, which aim to reach the start of summer “with full teams”.

However, the problem goes beyond the service sector, Rojo warns. The housing crisis, changes in the business landscape over time and the lack of generational replacement have altered a dynamic that was common for years: the movement of workers from other sectors into hospitality.

“In the past, builders worked in construction during the winter and became cooks in hotels in the summer. Now this has stabilised, and most industrial workers — such as carpenters, metalworkers, electricians or plumbers — have steady work throughout the year, so that shift towards the service sector no longer exists as it did before”, Rojo explains.

At the same time, workers are becoming less qualified, which may be due to two factors. On the one hand, the rapid evolution of jobs — for example in mechanics: “Fifteen years ago they worked with nuts and bolts, now everything is electrical. Workers need more training because new technologies have reached all sectors”, Rojo notes.

Higher earnings with less effort

On the other hand, job expectations have changed: “There are many trades where people no longer work in a company and gradually progress”. In Ibiza, if a worker wants to maximise earnings, “they can move from delivery driving to becoming a taxi driver, or to working in a kitchen or in construction”, he explains.

This particularly affects sectors with no generational replacement, such as transport, where the average age of professional truck or bus drivers “is over 55”. Rojo points to the recent case of the island’s new bus service contract: “Alsa announced it was bringing in 40 Peruvian drivers because it couldn’t find drivers in Spain willing to work in Ibiza”.

This is compounded by the fact that the most physically demanding jobs — such as construction — are mainly filled by immigrant workers. Rojo also refers to builders: “When Ibiza stopped having local bricklayers — those master builders who trained newcomers who later became skilled workers — stone walls stopped being built. For more than 20 years now, these have been built by workers from the Maghreb who have trained in these trades and are professionals”. According to him, this happened because many of those builders moved into hospitality jobs, where “they earned more”.

Fewer candidates and more temporary work

This reality is now affecting all sectors. It was seen this Tuesday in the taxi sector — with 186 candidates for more than 200 positions — and reflected in the job fairs held this month in Ibiza Town, Santa Eulària and Sant Antoni. More than 3,400 vacancies were offered, with at least 1,000 positions left unfilled.

This figure gives an idea of the situation, although “it could be even worse”, Rojo warns: “It may be that many of the people who applied already have jobs but are looking for something better”.

Regardless, Pimeef bases its analysis on data from its member companies, where a clear pattern emerges: “Businesses that operate all year round tend to have relatively stable workforces”. In this model, seasonal permanent contracts are “the backbone” of most companies, with employees often returning year after year, partly due to efforts by businesses to improve wages and facilitate work-life balance.

Even so, some young people find these conditions insufficient and prefer temporary work: “They don’t want to work eleven and a half months a year. They prefer to work eight months, earn what they would in twelve, and enjoy the other four”.

According to Rojo, this is closely linked to the housing crisis. Without access to affordable housing, there is no need to secure stable monthly income to cover expenses such as a mortgage. “It is the driving force behind all the problems”, he says, concluding that the difficulty of accessing affordable housing “is dragging down all these social issues on a large scale, one after another”.

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