The impact of the great recession on employment polarization in Spain

Abstract

This article analyzes changes in the occupational employment share in Spain for the period 1997-2012 and the way particular sociodemographic groups adapt to those changes. There seems to be clear evidence of employment polarization between 1997 and 2012 that accelerates over the recession. Changes in the composition of the labour supply cannot explain the increase in the share of occupations at the low end of the wage distribution. Sector reallocation may have partially contributed to explain the polarization process in Spain during the years of expansion (1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007) but it is a minor factor during the recession. The polarization of occupations within sectors observed, especially during the recession, appears to be related to a decline in routine tasks which is compensated by an increase in occupations with non-routine service contents, which are found both in the low and high end of the wage distribution. Instead, jobs with a higher degree of abstract contents do not appear to increase their share in total employment during these 15 years. The paper finds that this process has affected males more strongly than females because of their higher concentration in occupations more focused on routine tasks. Among males, for workers under 30 years old, we find a decrease in the share of occupations with more routine tasks which turns into increases in those with more abstract content and particularly with more non-routine service content. Instead, male workers over 30 years old seem to remain in declining occupations to a greater extent. Females of different ages are not affected by the abovementioned changes.

Explaining job polarisation in Spain from a task perspective

“…On the other hand, Fernández-Macías (2012) find heterogeneous results in Western European countries and conclude that there is not a clear and universal pattern of a pervasive polarisation. 3 As for Spain, conclusions also diverge between job polarisation (Anghel et al 2014) and occupational upgrading (Oesch and Rodríguez-Menés 2011;and Eurofound 2015). 4 While in the US wage polarisation has occurred hand with hand with job polarisation (Autor et al 2006), papers based on European countries do not find the same result.…”

“…Task measures at the job level are derived from an additional source, the European Working Condition Survey (EWCS). Unlike previous studies on job polarisation in Spain (see Anghel et al 2014 andGoos et al 2014), this study does not rely on the US O*Net survey to derive data on job task requirements. Hence, there is no need to assume that the task composition is the same in the two countries.…”

“…For example, Anghel et al (2014) conclude that the employment structure became more polarised between 1997 and 2012, while Oesch and Rodríguez-Menés (2011) and Eurofound (2015) show a pattern of progressive upgrading for the same period. Moreover, two recent studies covering Spain, based on the European Labour Force Survey, diverge in their results.…”

“…Second, I made methodological progress with respect to previous studies on job polarisation and task specialisation in European countries by measuring the tasks content of occupations from a national survey data instead of relying on US sources, like in the work of Anghel et al (2014) and Goos et al (2014). Therefore, no assumption on task composition and the impact of technology between the two countries is needed.…”

Comparison of the effect of social background on the wages of Spanish graduates before and during a crisis context

“…The rise in university fees, the labour market situation, and the behaviour of employers, families and students could activate social origin as a differentiating factor in occupational status after higher education. Social background could also affect graduate employment because of the employment polarization in Spain, which has shown a decline in averagewage jobs characterized by routine manual tasks (Anghel, De La Rica & Lacuesta, 2014). The aim of this study is to analyze if the social origin affects the labor insertion of the graduates, measured through their income.…”