2023-09-19 04:15:00
Asturian companies – the vast majority of which are micro-SMEs with fewer than ten employees – fear that the obligation for Vocational Training (FP) and University students to contribute to Social Security starting next January 1 will mean an increase in costs. labor and bureaucratic procedures, which could discourage them from training young apprentices. “It is true that companies are interested in having workers incorporated from the beginning of their careers, but their training requires many resources from the company itself, and the contribution means an increase in those costs. For the system to work, We must reduce obstacles and provide facilities for employers,” the president of the Asturian Federation of Entrepreneurs (FADE) told this newspaper yesterday. Maria Calvoupon leaving his meeting with the new Minister of Industry, Nieves Roqueñí.
The regulatory change has aroused the misgivings of Spanish universities
Last week the FP course started in Asturias, with more than 10,000 places for the first sections of basic, intermediate and higher degree. Starting in 2024, these students will have access to Social Security contributions during the internship period in companies (something mandatory with the new law approved last year). To do so, they must be over 16 years old and taking a medium or higher degree vocational training, in the intensive modality. The Government will cover 95% of these contributions, and the company will pay the remaining 5%. It will only be quoted for common contingencies (pensions and temporary disability), leaving out unemployment benefits. That is to say, Students will not be able to collect unemployment once the internship ends.
The regulatory change does not only affect vocational training, but all university students, whether they are paid internships or not. This has aroused concern among many principals of public and private centers throughout the country. For example, in Galicia, where every year 36,000 young people – 20,000 in vocational training and 16,000 in universities – enter the world of work. What educational institutions and authorities view favorably as “social progress” a priori has a potential B side. Sector sources fear that in a region with a productive fabric where SMEs prevail – like Asturias -, the new regulation has a deterrent effect derived from the bureaucracy it entails, as well as the costs and tight deadlines.
Although the State will cover 95% of the cost, businessmen fear that bureaucracy will grow
The Galician universities see the new obligation that is looming as “a big problem”, as the vice-rector for Students of the UDC (University of La Coruña) warns. María José Lombardíawhile Nicolás Espasandínwho directs the CIFP Polytechnic of Santiago, focuses on the procedures and the short time available, and adds: “We run the risk of scaring companies.”
The Xunta shares this concern and, in fact, has recently sent letters to two ministries, that of Education and that of Inclusion and Social Security, in which it warns that bureaucracy can discourage companies from “collaborating” in training. of future graduates. The Department of Education had warned of the same thing in May, when it asked, as now, to reformulate the rule or to postpone the measure for a year to facilitate its implementation and for the State to subsidize 100% of contributions to students and firms and not the 95%.
Their demands have gone unanswered. The Ministry of Education alleges that the decision is up to Inclusion. The fact that it is negotiated in the workplace and not in the educational sphere is one of the criticisms of Xunta and centers. As the vice-rector of the UDC alleges, curricular practices are an activity that is “exclusively academic and of a training nature that is key to the insertion” of future graduates and hence any “improvement” must be oriented to the field of training, not to the workplace. .
The Xunta also adds that the employers do not support the measure. Without their collaboration, he believes, “it will be difficult” for vocational training and university students to do internships.
The employers’ association will create a working group with representatives of the Asturian industrial sector
The Asturian Federation of Entrepreneurs (FADE) will create a working group in favor of the industrial promotion of the region that will include representatives of the Asturian manufacturing sector. Its mission will be to carry out consultative work and make proposals to both the employers’ association and the Asturian Government. This was announced yesterday by the president of FADE, María Calvo, after meeting with the new Minister of Ecological Transition, Industry and Economic Development, Nieves Roqueñí. Likewise, Calvo also offered her collaboration to the Principality to reissue the Forum for the Industry. “We are in a very important moment for the industry, and it must have an important weight in the new Asturian Executive, especially in circumstances of global uncertainty. We believe that Asturias must preserve its industrial nature despite the threats and difficulties it is going through. our companies,” highlighted the president of FADE, who also called for strengthening the Just Transition Fund, endowed with more than 260 million euros for the region. Roqueñí and Calvo – who was accompanied by the general director of FADE, Alberto González – also spoke about the Environmental Quality Law, in which the now counselor played a fundamental role during the last legislature. The Federation values the rule as a clear advance, but “adjustments must continue to be added” so that it meets the agility standards that have been pursued since the new regulation was conceived. FADE also conveyed to the counselor her concern about critical issues such as the border tariff.
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