A congress to clarify how much and how our children will work

Barcelonaflexibility It was the most repeated word this evening during the colloquium Future works, organized by the Department of Business and Work and held at the College of Economists of Catalonia. The participants: the Councilor of Company, Roger Torrent; the former minister of Economy Andreu Mas-Colell, and the former minister of Labour, Dolors Bassa, satisfied to attend an event held at the same time on the same day on which five years earlier he entered prison. The future of the labor market and training have focused the dialogue. A subject so complex that it will require more in-depth study and that is why, as Roger Torrent has announced, next year, in the spring, the congress will be held Jobs in a new economy for life. The goal is to know what the future world of work will be like.

Roger Torrent has focused the debate. Technological changes have accelerated exponentially. And before, during life, the worker trained, worked for a few years and then retired. But from this “linear” system, in the words of the counselor, we will have to move to an “individualized” system, in a life in which periods of training will be intertwined with periods of work. A new system which, in addition, has very heated debates: should we share the work? Will we work less and get paid less? Samples of this debate are already on the table, such as the four-day work week or the 35-hour work week.

“Working conditions will be more flexible”, explained former councilor Mas-Colell, not only during the day, but also at retirement age, for example. The economist is convinced that digitization will increase productivity and that, if some jobs disappear due to technological disruption, different ones will be created. A flexibility that, according to former councilor Dolors Bassa, must be bidirectional. Not only does the workforce have to be more flexible, companies will also have to be, ensuring wages that “give to live on”. Something that Roger Torrent has defined as “flexicurity”.

But in this future job market, it will be necessary to focus a lot on training, which will have to be “integrated”, according to Bassa, away from the compartmentalized model of professional training, continuous training and occupational training. A training that the ex-counselor believes should be considered as an investment. Torrent recalled that universities are preparing to offer this training and gave the example of the vocational training center for the automotive industry that will be managed by the Polytechnic University. And if Torrent calls for a role for universities, Mas-Colell also wants the participation of the private sector: “The training capital of private companies must be used.”

And going down to the most current moment, without looking that far, all three participants have shown themselves supporters, with nuances, of an income pact in the face of the current moment of rampant inflation. And Dolors Bassa added that a minimum salary of 1,100 euros is “more than convenient”.