[ART.] GLOBAL vs SPAIN LABOR MARKET: Growth Without Added Value
Global vs Spain Labor Market: Growth Without Added Value
Article written by Victor Carulla, Managing Partner at Headway Executive Search
The global labor market is growing… but Spain remains in the middle tier
The PROSFY Salary Report Q2 2026 offers a clear perspective on the labor market from two angles: global and local. And the difference matters.
🌍 Global view: volume, stability, and operational roles
At a global level, the labor market shows strong momentum. With more than 2.6 million job offers analyzed, the data reflects an active economy capable of generating employment.
However, this growth is clearly concentrated in operational roles. The most in-demand positions—sales, retail, hospitality, logistics, and customer service—point to a market driven more by execution than specialization.
The most sought-after skills reinforce this trend: communication, customer service, and teamwork lead the ranking. Soft skills dominate, while advanced technical capabilities play a secondary role in terms of volume.
In terms of working conditions, there is a positive note: 84% of contracts are permanent. However, the workplace model remains largely on-site (87%), suggesting that the shift toward hybrid and remote work is still progressing slowly on a global scale.
🇪🇸 Spain: mid-tier position and structural challenge
Spain ranks 17th globally, with an average salary of $23,892—well below leading European countries such as Finland or Denmark.
The demand structure is not significantly different from the global pattern: operational roles and transversal skills dominate. However, Spain faces a deeper challenge, as this structure is combined with lower salary levels, limiting competitiveness in attracting and retaining talent.
Moreover, the gap with other European countries is not only about salaries but also about labor market positioning: a lower relative weight of highly skilled roles and a reduced capacity to generate high value-added employment.
🔎 Conclusion
Globally, the challenge is to improve the quality of employment.
In Spain, it is also necessary to accelerate this structural shift.
Because the issue is not a lack of jobs.
It is the kind of jobs we are creating.
