De Guindos Calls for Simplified Employment Contracts
January 23rd, 2012
The Spanish Minister of Economy, Luis de Guindos, said that he believes that to tackle the economic crisis and fight against unemployment we must not forget the need to address, without delay, necessary structural changes. At the same time he criticised the current wage bargaining system and the wide range of contracts which exist at present.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the minister pointed out that in Spain there are “about 40 different employment contracts” – a situation which he said “should be simplified” to “one unique full-time contract” with common clauses for all new workers, and another to encourage part-time hiring.
In the newspaper he pointed out that the Government will call for the implementation of measures to boost fiscal consolidation, reduce deficits and improve labour productivity, while at the same time he noted that the wage bargaining system has been “one of the main reasons” for the loss of competitiveness that Spain has suffered in the last decade.
In addition, El Mundo reported that De Guindos stressed that the “new financial system reform” will “soon” force banks to increase their reserves to cover the loss of value of assets, such as those related to the real estate sector.
De Guindos assures that no tax money will be used to finance additional requirements that may be carried out in this bank restructuring process.
The Council of Ministers were to discuss the labour reform, financial restructuring and the future Budget Stability Law, amongst other matters, in a Government meeting on Friday.
