The anger of those that may telework and aren’t allowed: “It would improve my quality of life” | Economy | EUROtoday

Sergio is a nutritionist, works in Madrid and is 35 years previous. Her job consists of reviewing documentation, answering emails and answering telephone calls, wherein she provides wholesome consuming and dwelling tips to shoppers. “Most of the time I am sitting in front of the computer, as I could be at home.” He want to telework, “at least from time to time,” however his employers don’t enable it. “They tell me no, it’s impossible, it’s company policy. It’s an old and dirty company. I don’t understand it, we could do everything from home. Teleworking would improve my quality of life,” laments this worker, who asks to cover his final identify to keep away from issues within the firm.

This weekend marks six years for the reason that begin of confinement as a result of coronavirus, with the push of teleworking that got here with it. Sergio’s firm is a kind of that has turned its again on him: he’s among the many 16.1% of workers who declare that their duties could be carried out remotely, however who by no means earn a living from home. According to knowledge from the National Statistics Institute (INE) for 2025, there are round 3.4 million workers in Spain on this scenario. It is a gaggle that’s shrinking little by little (in 2024 they had been 18.4% and in 2023 18.8%), however nonetheless very related in labor statistics.

At the identical time, the proportion of those that do telework has nearly frozen within the final 12 months, in line with the newest INE data: it was 14.8% in 2025, in comparison with 15.1% the earlier 12 months. So, in 2024 and in line with Eurostat, Spanish teleworkers had been nearly the identical: 15.4% of the entire, round one in each six workers.

It is the best proportion within the historic Eurostat collection for Spain, which begins in 1992 with a minuscule 1.5%, 10 occasions much less. This share step by step grew till 2013, on the worst of the Great Recession, when it stood at 7.5%. It went again to 2016, improved with the top of the disaster and skilled a historic rise within the coronavirus emergency. Through confinements, the proportion climbed to fifteen.3% in 2021. It fell barely the next 12 months and already exceeded the utmost of the pandemic in 2024, with 15.4%.

And, in comparison with them, round 16% who may telework don’t accomplish that. There is a remaining 60% employed in actions wherein, as a basic rule, teleworking will not be possible (the countryside, hospitality, business, social companies…). But in that 16% there may be room for development and, nonetheless, it’s advancing slowly. Because? Specialists primarily seek advice from enterprise resistance, to the truth that there are corporations that don’t totally belief this new work mannequin.

Juan Vicente Castellanos, CIS researcher and writer of the doctoral thesis Sociological research on teleworking in Spain after the pandemicbelieves that the “management style” of the Spanish firm is “very face-to-face.” “Thus, it is more difficult for teleworking to grow than in other countries. With that mentality, it is more difficult to have people in charge whom you do not see,” he says. He believes that this imaginative and prescient relies on a elementary idea, wherein the worker is barely given autonomy: “It is a specific organizational model, in which less trust is given to the employee, in which organization by tasks and autonomy do not prevail. There is more supervision and hierarchy.”

It is an opinion just like that of labor lawyer Beatriz G. Caneda, writer of the doctoral thesis Scope of distant work and teleworking. A structural actuality. “There are many sectors that are being conservative, that continue to opt for presence and greater control over service provision,” signifies this specialist. Faced with this resistance is the will of workers to work remotely, a desire that’s crystallized within the INE knowledge: teleworkers charge the teleworking expertise with an 8.9 out of 10, with 51% of these surveyed choosing the best ranking. Only 2% fail this expertise.

One of the workers delighted with teleworking is Diego Fernández, a 31-year-old pc scientist. Until lately he had been in search of a job and teleworking was a non-negotiable situation. “For me it was essential that the offer be with teleworking. One of the ones I rejected involved going to the office two days a week and the one I accepted is five days per quarter.” With this scheme, you may proceed dwelling in Almería and journey to Madrid on these uncommon events. “It seems fine to me to go from time to time, but it makes sense. If it is so that there is no one there and to talk on Teams anyway, it is better not to do it.” He assures that this want to telework is frequent amongst his colleagues, particularly the youthful ones.

Valentín Bote, director of Randstad Research, emphasizes that this aspiration to telework places corporations that don’t supply it at a drawback when recruiting personnel. “We have seen that some companies that do not opt ​​for teleworking experience additional complications in recruiting talent.” He says that this may be much less severe for corporations if there have been extra labor, “but in a context of scarcity of many profiles, you are less attractive.”

Teleworking legislation

Bote believes that there are a number of causes that designate enterprise resistance to making use of extra teleworking. Points out the shortage of management over the worker and the potential lack of productiveness that could be related [el principal argumento esgrimido por algunas grandes tecnológicas que lo rechazan, junto al freno a la innovación al no compartir ideas presencialmente]however the one which stands out probably the most is the flaw seen within the legislation authorised in 2021—supported by unions and employers—. “This legislation represents a cost for the company when teleworking exceeds 30%. This has been a disincentive for many companies to go further and that is why it is so common to limit it to six days a month,” highlights Bote. He believes that this logic sabotages additional improvement of this components: “If it is something that the worker demands, why financially penalize the company?”

What the legislation establishes is that when teleworking (which is at all times voluntary by each events) exceeds 30% of the day, a collection of rights and duties should be regulated, which embody compensation for some bills, an analysis of occupational dangers or the corporate’s means to manage the exercise. Below that 30%, obligations are blurred and informality prevails. Hence, Raquel Boto, an skilled within the subject of CC OO, defends this regulation: “The company always prefers that teleworking float in the absence of definition, benefiting from the permanent connection of many employees but not regulating the conditions under which it is provided to avoid responsibilities.”

However, Castellanos appreciates progress in teleworking settlement by settlement, which is step by step making its method into collective bargaining for the reason that pandemic. “Without the inflationary crisis, which has put a lot of weight on salary negotiations, it would have advanced even more. Teleworking is seen as one more right that the worker demands.” Abunda Caneda, who has studied the phenomenon particularly: “Most agreements are for two or three days. Many companies try to escape the law, not to cross the threshold.” [del 30%] to keep away from obligations.” “Large companies [en las que los sindicatos tienen más fuerza y a menudo convenios propios] They have more pressure to implement teleworking. In addition, it costs more for small companies due to the investment in technology to make it feasible,” provides the CIS researcher.

Boto believes that corporations don’t reject teleworking due to the prices that the Randstad skilled alludes to (“they are very small, a part of the electricity and internet, along with the provision of equipment”), however as a result of “there is a lot of belief in monitoring the employee, without valuing the improvement in the employee’s life; productivity increases with teleworking.” At the identical time, it highlights the transformative position that teleworking can play in combating depopulation, assuaging housing costs within the cities the place jobs are concentrated, and within the local weather footprint, given the journey it saves on daily basis.

This important enchancment is what Lorena calls for for herself, Sergio’s accomplice within the vitamin firm who rejects teleworking and who additionally asks to cover her final identify. “I have heard stories about not sleeping with teleworking, people who dedicate themselves to everything except working. It is normal that there is a certain reluctance on the part of some companies,” he concedes, earlier than highlighting that one of these fraud mustn’t undermine the appropriate for abnormal staff: “For me it would be wonderful to have a couple of days of teleworking to better balance. To not bring the car, save those costs, to make better use of time and not lose it on the round trip. It is sad everything that we We lose.”