[EN] Aragon’s labour market will lose almost 16,000 potential workers in the next decade

Aragon will have to face a very big challenge in the next decade as it faces a major change in its demographic structure that will have direct effects on the labour market. Between 2030 and 2040, the Community will lose 15,959 people of working age, while the population over 64 years of age will increase by 65,508 people.

The reduction in potential workers will coincide with the gradual exit from the labour market of the largest generations born during the 1960s and 1970s. Similarly, the low birth rate recorded in the 2010s

According to the INE’s projections collected by the Adecco Foundation, the scenario may increase the problems of companies to fill vacancies and narrow the demographic base on which employment, economic activity and social protection systems are based. The Adecco Foundation believes that this change will force us to make better use of the available talent and to incorporate more people into the labour market.

FEWER PEOPLE OF WORKING AGE AND MORE OVER 64 YEARS OLD

The Aragonese population between 16 and 64 years of age will reach 897,938 people in 2030 and will reach its maximum in 2035, when it will total 902,187. From then on, it will begin to fall to 881,979 people in 2040, which is 15,959 fewer than a decade earlier, a decrease of 1.8%.

The evolution will be opposite among those over 64 years of age. This group will go from around 341,260 people in 2030 to 406,767 in 2040, around 65,508 more and a growth of close to 19%. In this way, a potentially smaller active population will have to live with an increasing number of people above the conventional working age.

YOUNG TALENT WILL MAINTAIN A DECISIVE WEIGHT

People between 50 and 64 years of age will continue to represent a very significant part of the working-age population. Its weight will reach 35.9% in 2030 and will gradually fall to 34.3% in 2040. Even then, more than one in three potential workers in Aragon will belong to this age group.

The younger group will also continue to be larger than the younger group. Currently, people between 50 and 64 years of age are 37.6% more than those between 20 and 34 years of age. Although the gap will decrease to 18% in 2040, senior workers will maintain their numerical superiority throughout the period analyzed. The Adecco Foundation therefore proposes to combat ageism, update their skills and make it easier for those who want to prolong their professional career to do so.

INCLUSION, MIGRATION AND TRAINING TO EXPAND TALENT

The Adecco Foundation believes that labour inclusion will be one of the fundamental tools to address the shortage of professionals. The report focuses on people with disabilities, women at risk of exclusion, the long-term unemployed and people with lower qualifications. In Aragon, the activity rate of people with disabilities stands at 37%, according to INE data collected in the document.

The answer also involves migration linked to the real needs of companies, greater training and requalification of workers and closer collaboration between the business fabric and training centres. The report adds Dual Vocational Training, digitalization, artificial intelligence and automation as tools to increase productivity and better take advantage of a workforce that will be more limited in the coming decades.